Bulletin #194
SUBJECT:
ON THE DEATH
THROES OF LATE CAPITALISM ? : FROM THE
CENTER FOR THE ADVANCED STUDY OF AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS,
Dear Colleagues and
Friends of CEIMSA,
Thus far these summer
months in
In his recent book, The
Age of Extremes, historian Eric
Hobsbawm remarks that no longer do we hear from
the military argument : "the ends justify the
means". It is simply no use pretending any longer; we are now living in a
period of TOTAL WAR, according to Hobsbawm, and the
contemplation of "means and ends" have ceased to serve as a restraint
for use of military force. What is done is done because it can be gotten away
with; there are no sanctions looming against that handful of men, who are the
"makers of war" and, consequently, there are no restraints
!
Below are eight items
recently received by our research center, at CEIMSA, which speak to the
shameful events which many of us continue to tacitly support --by our
determined silence, if not by willful ignorance.
Item A. is an article by David
Enders in which he makes comparisons between the Israeli occupation of
Palestine and the U.S. occupation of Iraq, where he saw entire families walking
through a kilometer-long checkpoint, from a parking lot outside Fallujah to one on the other side.
Item B. is an article sent to us
by Professor Edward Herman in which Amira Hass argues
against the term "occupation" in the Israeli war against
Palestinians. He insists it is nothing less than the grotesque policy of
"ethnic cleansing".
Item C. "The Religious Left
fights back" is an attempt by Van Jones -the national executive director
of the
Item D. is an article forwarded
to us by economics Professor Richard B. Du Boff on the political economy of prisons in
Item E., "The Case of
Sergeant Benderman" is an essay written by Camilo Mejia, who is a former prisoner of conscience who served served
nine months in confinement for refusing to return to
Item F. is an article written by
Norman Solomon in honor of Kevin Benderman, the
40-year-old Army mechanic who was sentenced yesterday to 15 months for refusing
to return to
Item G. is an article July 28th by veteran
columnist Helen Thomas who reports nationally on President Bush's refusal to
stop the abuse of Detainees in the
American prison camps
And finally item H. is a recent report on
former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's criticisms of the Bush Administration's
war policies.
Our French readers will
be interested in the August issue of Le
Monde diplomatique, which has several useful
articles on contemporary
Sincerely,
Francis McCollum Feeley
Professor of American
Studies/
Director of Research
Université Stendhal-Grenoble III
http://dimension.ucsd.edu/CEIMSA-IN-EXILE/
______________________________________
A.
from David Enders
copyright
"We Regard Fallujah As a Large Prison"
by David Enders
A reporter returns to the city,
where violence and destruction remain part of everyday life.
Eight months after the second invasion of Fallujah,
there is hardly a street that does not still feature a building pulverized
during the assault. I had not been in the city since last July, when I was
escorted out by three cars of mujahedeen - that's when
things were still relatively nice - and though I had expected it, the
destruction was still shocking.
The dome of one mosque I had previously used as a landmark was
completely missing, large holes had been blown in
others. Houses have been pancaked, it is hard to find
a façade without the mark
of at least small arms fire. As many as 80 percent of the city's 300,000-plus
residents have returned, but the city has by no means returned to normal. On
Sunday, the police were hard at work adding razor wire and new concrete blast
barriers to the already sprawling fortifications around their main station in
the center of town while US and Iraqi army patrols
traversed the main street, the Iraqis firing their rifles in the air to clear
traffic. Small arms chattered in the distance, followed by a response from a
larger gun. The tension is palpable. Curfew begins at
"They are killing one or two of us everyday," says an Iraqi
soldier at one of the checkpoints into the city, a claim confirmed by local
doctors.
I have heard Iraqis make comparisons between their occupation and the
Israeli occupation of
A child jumps into the Euphrates from a one-lane bridge, the same bridge
from which angry residents hung the charred and beaten bodies of four American
contractors in March 2004, the same bridge that connects the center of town to Fallujah General hospital, the first objective taken by the
Marines in November's invasion. Doctors Ahmed and Salam,
who agreed to be interviewed on the condition that their names be changed, lamented the condition of the city and its
people. In the last week, they have received three civilian casualties of
"Just yesterday a middle-aged lady was brought here by coalition
forces - she was killed by a single shot to the head," Ahmedays.
"The coalition forces came to the hospital and took her name and all her
information."
"The people of Fallujah feel depressed
because they can't move freely from place to place, because the coalition
forces and the Iraqi national guard make new
checkpoints every day, make new obstacles," says Salam.
"They cannot move freely at night. There are medical cases at night that
result in casualties because they cannot reach us."
At Al-Furqan Mosque, one of the city's
moderate places of worship, some of the men stay after the prayers to discuss
the situation. Even more than the
"They use their weapons to clear traffic," says Imam Abdul Majid. Some of the men cry during his sermon, when he asks
god to save Fallujah and
"Shops are broken into at night," one of the men says.
"Tell me, if there is a curfew and the army and the police control the
streets, who is breaking into our shops?"
The men are afraid of the Iranian influence on the new government, the
government that has failed to continue sending aid, something which
US-appointed prime minister Ayad
Allawi's government, despite supporting November's
invasion, did do.
Back at the hospital, Ahmed says he expects the fighting to continue.
"Even civilian people will change to be fighters," he says. "We
regard Fallujah as a large prison." (People in Fallujah will not talk directly about fighting, though all
indications are that the new attacks are homegrown.)
The Iraqi army in Fallujah,
who don't mind telling a journalist that they are all from cities in the south,
don't seem particularly thrilled to be here. (When the
"Fallujah - death," says one of
them, drawing a finger across his throat, a motion that I would like to go one
day in
Most of the reconstruction that has taken place since the fighting has
been the often partial rebuilding of houses. Iyad Allawi's government sent 20 percent of the promised
compensation.
"It costs in
I approach some of the Marines on a base inside the city, to try and
find out what life is like for them. They say there is no one at the base who
can speak on the record, but I pause for a minute and chat, not terribly
excited about walking back outside into the thick dust and, potentially, a line
of fire. They ask why I have come, I am the first
journalist they have seen in four months.
"No one wants to talk about Fallujah,"
says one of the Marines.
________________
David Enders is a freelance
journalist who has been working in
_____________________________________
B.
From: Professor Edward Herman
Subject: The Village Near the Settlement is Unlawful by Amira
Hass
Date:
Francis,
Another fine illustration of the
process of ultra-ethnic-cleansing in operation, carried on with
Ed Herman
The village near the settlement is unlawful
by Amira Hass
Why we should have long ago stopped describing the
situation in
"I
was born here, in Khirbet Tana,
and I inherited the land from my grandfather. I am a shepherd and have a family
of 10. All of us are shepherds, and that is our sole source of livelihood. In
June I moved to Beit Furik,
because in the summer the sheep can't take the heat in Khirbet
Tana. On
This is the account that Wassef Hanani, 51, gave to a B'Tselem field researcher. The home of Abed al-Kader Ibrahim, 72, was also demolished. He still remembers his grandmother as the owner of the surrounding land. He and his brothers and sisters were born in Tana. "I don't know any other place. Here I got married and my nine children live here .... Between June and August we move to Beit Furik ... to herd the sheep and live there in tents, but it's only temporary. There isn't enough land or water there for herding. They didn't only demolish homes, they also destroyed the elementary school building. It had two classrooms where the children study up to fourth grade. It's the only school here. They also destroyed part of the fence around the mosque. An ancient mosque, which was built more than 200 years ago."
Information
about the destruction of Tana has been completely
swallowed up by the media inundation of disengagement-related news. It is a
Palestinian community that developed as an annex of the existing village Beit Furik, east of
Much
can be learned about this natural process from a research study drafted by the
geographer David Grossman, printed in 1977 in the book, "
On July 5, Israel Defense Forces soldiers and the Civil Administration demolished 22 structures and sheep pens, which served 450 persons. Only two structures and the mosque were spared. "These are largely temporary structures, without permits, that were built on an active firing zone used by the IDF," the Civil Administration wrote to Haaretz in response. "A military closure order exists for the site. It is superfluous to note the great danger of the residents being in the firing zone. These are structures that are not permanently occupied; they are occupied mainly in the winter, primarily by residents of Beit Furik, where their permanent residences are located."
For Israeli authorities, every structure built after 1967 that does not have a permit from the occupation authorities is unlawful and therefore subject to demolition. And when the absence of permits does not keep people away, the firing zone comes and does so under the guise of concern for residents. This is the same firing zone that for some reason is not dangerous to the settlers of Mechora, only a few kilometers from Tana.
The
Israeli love for law and order was fulfilled not only a short distance from Mechora, which like all of the settlements in the
Tana is not an isolated case. Other village-annexes in the
Jordan Rift, southern Hebron Hills and the area of Qalqilyah
are similarly threatened by the Israeli love of the law. But there is much more
here than an isolated action. In addition to the destruction of a venerable
social fabric, this is yet another method by which
_____________________________________
C.
from Van Jones
copyright
The
Religious Left Fights Back
by Van Jones
Rabbi Michael Lerner has been the
spark-plug for many progressive, faith-based undertakings over the years,
including Tikkun magazine. But this latest effort is
an order of magnitude more challenging than anything he has attempted thus far.
And given the stakes for our ailing would-be democracy, the birthing of NSP may
prove to be his most important calling.
Rabbi Michael Lerner is stirring up trouble again - thank God.
Earlier this week, Lerner was the main organizer of a national gathering
in
Activism" conference was
intended to help launch a much-needed new initiative: the Network of Spiritual
Progressives (NSP).
Lerner has been the spark-plug for many progressive, faith-based
undertakings over the years, including Tikkun
magazine. But this latest effort is an order of magnitude more challenging than
anything he has attempted thus far. And given the stakes for our ailing
would-be democracy, the birthing of NSP may prove to be his most important
calling.
Lerner wants to help forge a new alliance of "religious, secular
and spiritual, but not religious, progressives." This alliance will
someday expose and challenge the cancer of American consumerism. And it will
oppose the religious Right's abuse of scripture to promote war, intolerance and
ugly corporate agendas.
By itself, those two goals would warrant full-throated support from all
progressives. But don't be surprised if the good rabbi's efforts also draw some
serious "boos" from many parts of the Left, as well. That's because
Lerner's bravest and hardest work is aimed much closer to home.
He wants to do more than just minister to the mall-lobotomized masses or
give the fundamentalists a well-deserved spanking. He also wants to challenge
the Left's chronic and toxic bias against religious feeling, expression and
people.
Lerner hopes to end "religio-phobia among
progressives." And such efforts will not be welcome among a great many
rabidly secular progressives.
As for me, I will be praying for the Rabbi's success. I am an
African-American Christian who was raised in the American heartland. When I
moved to the cosmopolitan coasts of
I literally have had liberals laugh in my face when I told them I was a
Christian. For awhile, I felt self-conscious about telling other activists that
I preferred not to meet on Sunday mornings, because I wanted to go to church.
It is still commonplace to hear so-called radicals stereotyping all
religious people as stupid dupes - and spitting out the word
"Christian" as if it were an insult or the name of a disease. I
thought progressives were supposed to be the standard-bearers of tolerance and
inclusion.
I certainly know the monstrous crimes that have been committed through
the ages in the name of religion, or with the blessings of
religious people. But I know a few other
things about religion, too.
I grew up in the Black churches of the rural south, listening to the
stories of my elders. As children, we heard about the good, brave people who
had poured their blood out upon the ground so that we could be free. We learned
how police officers had clubbed and jailed them. We learned how Klansmen had
shot and lynched them. And how the G-men from
We learned of marches and mayhem, freedom songs and funerals. We saw
images of billy-clubbed Black women on their hands
and knees, searching for their teeth on
We saw pictures of Black men, like our fathers, hanging by their necks -
their faces twisted, their bodies rigid, their clothes burned off -along with
their skin. And we saw photos of carefree killers, sauntering home out of
We learned how the very best of humanity had faced off with the very
worst of humanity - each circling the other under the same summer sun. That
epic struggle had elevated southern back roads and backwaters onto the Great
World Stage. And the fate of a people - along with the destiny of a nation -
hung in the balance, for all to see.
In the end, we children cheered, for the righteous did prevail. More
than that, they performed one of the great miracles in human history: They
transformed American apartheid into a fledgling democracy, tender and delicate
and new.
All progressives today proudly celebrate that achievement - and rightly
so. But one key fact seems to escape the notice of today's activist crowd. The
champions of the civil rights struggle didn't come marching out of shopping
centers in South. Or libraries. Or
high school gymnasiums.
To face the attack dogs, to face the fire-hoses, to face the billy-clubs, these heroes and she-roes came marching boldly
out of
church-houses. And they were singing church
songs. They set an example of courage and sacrifice that will endure for the
ages. And as they did it, they prayed on wooden pews in the name of a Nazarene
carpenter named Jesus.
The implications are clear for those who seek today to rescue and redeem
As a descendent of enslaved Africans who were told that God (and not
capitalist greed) required their degradation, I know the crimes of the
Christian church as well as anyone. But as a child of the civil rights
movement, I also know the power of Christian faith, the power of moral appeal
and the power of spiritual strength - to break asunder the bonds of servitude.
And in our do-or-die effort to set things right in
That is why I applaud Rabbi Lerner's efforts. He is standing in a long
tradition of faith-honoring Americans, who have helped lead the charge from
barbarism toward democracy. In the 1800s, escaping Africans fled enslavement
through the bedrooms and basements of Quakers, along the famous Underground
Railroad. In the 1980s, religious congregations led the Sanctuary Movement.
Their efforts opened up
The Rabbi's new efforts also resonate today. Reeling from the steady
string of recent defeats, even the most hard-core
Rev. Jim Wallis' most recent book, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It
Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It, struck a chord this
year and became an instant bestseller. Rev. Frances Hall Kieschnick
(spouse of Working Assets wunderkind Michael Kieschnick)
is taking steps to start a Beatitudes Society, to give more voice to
progressive people of faith. Similar efforts are springing up on smaller scales
all across the country.
Somewhere, in all of these stirrings, I see the seeds of a wisdom-based,
Earth-honoring, pro-democracy movement - one that affirms and applauds
religious and spiritual impulses, while opposing fundamentalism, chauvinism and
theocracy. Over time, this kind of progressive movement has the potential to
win - and win big - in the
Such
a movement is within reach. But progressives must abandon the old pattern of
reducing the Great Faiths to their worst elements, constituents and crimes -
and then dismissing all other facts and features. It is not just stupid
political strategy. At a moral level, it is a form of blindness and bigotry
that is beneath all of us.
My prayer is that a critical mass of progressives can agree on two basic
premises.
Number one: Any progressive approach to "faith in politics"
that ignores the awful crimes of religiously-inspired people is dishonest,
inauthentic and can never achieve emancipatory ends.
Number two: At the same time, any approach that fails to honor and
embrace the positive contributions of religiously inspired people is also wrong-headed,
and it foolishly and needlessly shuts progressives off from our own history,
achievements and present sources of vital support.
I believe that Rabbi Lerner has come up with a thoughtful, sensitive and
wise approach, worthy of broad-based affirmation. He aims to: "build an
alliance between secular, religious and 'spiritual but not religious'
progressives - in part by challenging the anti-religious biases in parts of the
liberal culture (while acknowledging the legitimacy of anger against those
parts of the religious world that have embodied authoritarian, racist, sexist,
homophobic or xenophobic practices and attitudes").
That is a formulation that the vast majority of progressives should be
able to adopt, affirm and cheer about. And I proudly say to it, Amen, brother Lerner ... Amen!
___________
Attorney Van Jones is the national
executive director of the
______________________________________
D.
from Professor Richard B. Du Boff
ASSOCIATED PRESS [Netscape News]
Subject: Growth industry, U$A...
Francis
as well as an opportunity
for Aspiring Entrepreneurs. But... can it be outsourced?
Richard
Private Prisons
Experience Business Surge
by DAVID CRARY
NEW YORK (AP) - Though state
governments are no longer fueling a private prison boom, the industry's major
companies are upbeat - thanks in large measure to a surge of business from
federal agencies seeking to house fast-rising numbers of criminals and detained
aliens.
Since 2000, the number of federal
inmates in private facilities - prisons and halfway houses - has increased by
two-thirds to more than 24,000. Thousands more detainees not convicted of
crimes are confined in for-profit facilities, which now hold roughly 14 percent
of all federal prisoners, compared to less than 6 percent of state inmates.
Critics, including prisoners rights groups and unionized corrections officers,
contend the policy amounts to a federal bailout of an industry that would
otherwise be struggling with a checkered record. The companies and the
government say they provide a flexible, economical alternative to building new
federal prisons as get-tough policies boost demand for space in an overcrowded
system.
"If the Bureau of Prisons is
going to build capacity for themselves, they have to
plan eight years in advance," said John Ferguson, chief executive of the
Corrections Corporation of
The industry expanded rapidly in the
1990s on the assumption that business in a tough-on-crime era would grow
indefinitely. But escapes and violence at a few private prisons, along with
questions about cost savings, tempered enthusiasm.
Saddled with thousands of empty
beds, CCA teetered near bankruptcy before new federal contracts helped it
rebound. Since 2000, the Nashville, Tenn.-based company has doubled its number
of federal prisoners to 18,200 - 29 percent of its overall inmate population.
"The federal government smiled
on them just in time," said Judith Greene, a New York-based prison-policy
analyst.
Business is certain to grow. Bureau
of Prisons spokeswoman Traci Billingsley said the number of federal inmates is
expected to rise from 185,000 to 226,000 by 2010, with private companies likely
to be relied on for housing non-citizen immigrants convicted of federal crimes.
The number of people detained by
Many of the detainees are housed at facilities
run by CCA and its main rival, GEO Group - formerly Wackenhut.
Both companies anticipate their detention business will grow. "Those two are huge beneficiaries of overincarceration in the immigration system," said
Lucas Guttentag of the American Civil Liberties
Union's Immigrants Rights Project.
The private facilities are required
to meet "rigorous federal standards,'' said Immigration and Customs
Enforcement spokeswoman Jamie Zuieback. Yet critics
insist privatization will lead to cost-cutting and accountability problems
affecting detainees' welfare.
"They're putting in a system
where it's easier to pass the buck," said lawyer Dan Kesselbrenner
of the Boston-based National Immigration Project.
Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, a
former prison psychologist, tried unsuccessfully to block privatization approval
in Congress. "When the primary goal is profit, that can and probably does
lead to a variety of abuse," Strickland said. "I don't see any end in
sight."
On the state level, there is no
comparable boom for private prisons, but neither is there the bust some
industry critics anticipated. As of mid-2004, private prisons housed 74,285
state inmates, compared to 76,763 in mid-2001.
About 30 states use private prisons,
notably in the South and West.
Most states' policies remain
unchanged since the 1990s and the bottom line is that overcrowding remains a
stubborn problem. Still, arguments
persist over the pros and cons of private prisons, which pay lower average
wages than government agencies. Whether this undermines performance is hotly
debated, although federal researchers concluded in 2001 that high staff
turnover did aggravate security problems at many private facilities.
Industry officials insist they have addressed
such concerns. "For those who think the public employee monopoly should be
maintained, and sentencing advocates who believe we send too many people to
prison, we're an easy target,'' said CCA's Ferguson.
"But if I'm chief executive of a state, I'd see a value to having
competition in my prison system."
The industry's future is bright
enough that GEO Group is buying rival Correctional Services Corp., but
prospects hinge largely on incarceration trends. Many states have balked at
funding new prisons, and now face crowding problems they could ease by using
private prisons or diverting some offenders to alternatives like drug-treatment
programs.
"The drug war has been the main
cause of profits for private prisons," said
________________
Geoff Segal of the pro-privatization
Reason Foundation predicted private companies will diversify their state
business - offering more health and rehabilitation programs, for example. "States with private prisons aren't
going to get rid of them," Segal said. "It's a tough sell for a state
to say it's going to spend more money on corrections rather than on
Medicaid."
Prison statistics: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/pjim04.htm
______________________________________
E.
from Camilo
Mejia | The Case of Sergeant Benderman
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
copyright:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/072905A.shtml
The Case of
Sergeant Benderman
by Camilo
Mejia
What Sgt. Benderman
saw in
Fort Stewart, Georgia - When Sgt. Kevin Benderman
went to Iraq on March of 2003, he saw the destruction of a nation, he saw a
little girl with a burnt arm asking the soldiers for help they were ordered not
to provide, he saw people drinking water from mud puddles, and he saw that
Iraqis were regular people, just like himself, and that our military should not
bring destruction to that country. What Sgt. Benderman
saw in
But today's general Court-Martial did not deal with Sgt. Benderman's war experience, nor with the dehumanization of
America's children in Iraq; it mostly dealt with a forty-five minute meeting
Sgt. Benderman had with his Sgt. Major just an hour
before his unit was to deploy to the Middle East, where they were to provide
logistic support to American infantry units, and they were to train Iraqi
police officers and military personnel.
The defense successfully showed how during that meeting Sgt. Benderman's chain of command, not knowing how to deal with
his Conscientious Objector packet, released him to work on documents and to
have dinner with his wife, just an hour prior to his unit's deployment, and how
they made no effort to get him to the airfield, or to get him onboard a later
flight. The defense showed how Sgt. Benderman, far
from being absent without authority or having missed movement, continued to
perform a sergeant's duties while and after his unit deployed to
The defense also showed the ambiguity in Sgt. Benderman's
chain of command. For instance, one of the government's arguments in seeking
both a conviction and a harsh punishment was that Sgt. Benderman's
logistic duties were crucial for the unit in
Why then, one wonders, was Sgt. Benderman
convicted of Missing Movement by Design, and sentenced to 15 months of
confinement, reduction to the lowest rank, and a dishonorable discharge? The
defense strategy was sound and solid. The government's prejudice and Sgt. Benderman's chain of command's unmeasured persecution and
incompetence were all made evident. Why the conviction and the harsh sentence
then?
Perhaps because a legal strategy is no match for a
political strategy. The Army had in its hands a blond, blue-eyed, six
foot two, all American soldier, born and raised in the south, someone white
America can look up to and identify with, someone who went to Iraq and came
back with his humanity enhanced, most definitely a threat to a government on a mission
to militarize its society and spread its empire. The government threw the book
at Sgt. Benderman to ensure others like him don't
follow behind. Therefore, his case should not have been boiled down to a
forty-five minute meeting, because in doing so, the defense disconnected itself
from the humanity of the action and from its message of resistance, and that is
something America cannot afford at this time.
Sgt. Benderman is not an African American
Muslim, he is not a Cuban Buddhist, his parents are
not Latin Americans. Unlike other recent conscientious objectors, Binderman looks like he belongs at a George W. Bush rally.
The humanity he displays in his refusal to fight a senseless war cannot be
blamed on a foreign ethnicity, or on the color of his skin; it cannot be blamed
on his religion either. And he cannot be accused of being a Yankee liberal.
Sgt. Benderman's courageous stance gives the
conscientious objector response to the war in
Sgt. Kevin Benderman chose to put his weapon
down; he chose not to kill but to love his fellow human beings; he chose to put
his career and physical freedom in jeopardy; he chose to speak truth in the
face of power and adversity; he was harassed, humiliated, accused, tried,
convicted, and sentenced to jail. He kissed his wife goodbye, and he kept his
head up high as he walked to his fifteen months of confinement. I have never
seen a freer man.
__________________
Camilo E. Mejia is a former prisoner of
conscience, Iraq war veteran, war resister, and member of
______________________________________
F.
from Norman
Solomon
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
copyright:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/072905I.shtml
In
Praise of Kevin Benderman
by Norman Solomon
The 40-year-old Army mechanic was
sentenced yesterday to 15 months for refusing to return to
Conscience is not in the chain of command.
"Before being sentenced to 15 months for refusing to return to Iraq
with his Army unit, Sgt. Kevin Benderman told a
military judge that he acted with his conscience, not out of a disregard for
duty," the Associated Press reports. Benderman,
a 40-year-old Army mechanic, "refused to go on a second combat tour in
January, saying the destruction and misery he witnessed during the 2003
Three weeks ago, his wife Monica Benderman
wrote: "He returned knowing that war is wrong, the most dehumanizing
creation of
humanity that exists. He saw war destroy
civilians, innocent men, women and children. He saw war destroy homes,
relationships and a country. He saw this not only in the country that was
invaded, but he saw this happening to the invading country as well - and he
knew that the only way to save those soldiers was for people to no longer
participate in war. Sgt. Kevin Benderman is a
Conscientious Objector to war, and the Army is mad."
On Thursday, at his court-martial, Kevin Benderman
spoke. "Though some might take my actions as being against soldiers, I
want everyone to be home and safe and raising their families," he said.
"I don't want anyone to be hurt in a combat zone."
But the Pentagon is imposing its power to enforce the unconscionable.
And words that were written by Monica Benderman
in early July are now even more true: "The Army has removed itself so
completely from its moral responsibility, that its representatives are willing
to openly demand, in a court of law, that they be allowed to regain 'positive
control over this soldier' by finding him guilty of crimes he did not commit,
and put him in jail - a prisoner of conscience, for daring to obey a moral
law."
And, she added: "It is 'hard work' to face the truth, and it is
scary when people who are not afraid to face it begin to speak out. Someone
once said that my husband's case is a question of morality over legality. I
pray that this country has not gone so far over the edge that the two are so
distinctly different that we can tell them apart."
Monica Benderman is correct. Facing truths
about the priorities of our country's government can be very difficult. During
the Vietnam War -also based on lies, also methodically murderous - an
extraordinary
Wayne Morse said at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"It's an ugly reality, and we Americans don't like to face up to it."
Moments before the Senate hearing adjourned on
As an astute cliché says, truth is the first
casualty of war. But another early casualty is conscience, routinely smothered
in the national media echo chamber.
On the TV networks, the voices are usually smooth, and people often seem
to be speaking loudly. In contrast, the human conscience is close to a whisper.
Easily unheard.
Rarely explored in news media, the capacity for conscience makes us
human. Out of all the differences between people and other animals,
And that's why Kevin Benderman, now in prison,
is providing greater moral leadership than any member of the United States
Senate.
_____________
Norman Solomon is the author of the
new book War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.
Excerpts are posted at WarMadeEasy.com.
__________________________________________
G.
from Helen Thomas
Hearst Newspapers
Bush Won't Block
Abuse of Detainees
by Helen Thomas
Last week, Bush dispatched no less
an emissary than Vice President Dick Cheney to warn members of the Senate Armed
Services Committee against any congressional intervention on detainee
interrogations.
prisoners of war and detainees.
He has gone so far as to threaten to veto the vital $491 billion defense
bill if an amendment barring mistreatment of prisoners is attached.
This is the president who - along with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld - was shocked last year when he saw photos of
leashed naked prisoners under
The irony is that Bush's close adviser, Karen Hughes, has just been put
in charge of the State Department's public diplomacy division to improve the
nation's tattered global image. Millions spent on this effort will go to waste
if we do not wipe out the impression that the
There have been a dozen Pentagon investigations of POW abuse - the
latest by Lt. Gen. Randall Schmidt, who recommended that Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller,
commander of the Guantánamo Bay prison, be
reprimanded for failing to supervise the mistreatment of Mohamed al-Kahtani. He admitted to being "the 20th hijacker"
for the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Schmidt said, but was blocked from entering the
But Gen. Bantz Craddock, commander of the US
Southern Command, overruled the recommendation that Miller be punished. Miller
has a reputation for aggressive methods in the prisons and for introducing dogs
at Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib,
where he was sent to beef up the interrogations.
Al-Kahtani was threatened with dogs and made
to "perform a series of dog tricks," according to an unclassified
version of Schmidt's report released earlier this month.
Al-Kahtani also had to stand naked in front of
female soldiers, and was forced to wear female lingerie and dance with a male
interrogator. Also he had his copy of the Quran
squatted on by an interrogator.
These revelations did not evoke universal outrage on Capitol Hill. Sen.
James Imhofe, R-Okla., was
incensed that investigators put so much energy into the inquiries.
"It's hard to see why we're so wrapped up in this
investigation," he said. "We have nothing to be ashamed of."
Last week, Bush dispatched no less an emissary than Vice President Dick
Cheney to warn members of the Senate Armed Services Committee against any
congressional intervention on detainee interrogations.
The White House told Capitol Hill that Bush's advisers would urge him to
veto the multibillion-dollar military bill "if legislation is presented
that would restrict the president's authority to protect Americans effectively
from terrorist attack and bring terrorists to justice."
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who was a prisoner
of war for six years during the Vietnam War, is proposing an amendment that
would set uniform standards for interrogating anyone detained by the Defense
Department. He would limit the questioning techniques to those along the lines
of the Army field manual, which is undergoing revision.
McCain also proposes all foreign nationals held by our military be
registered with the International Committee of the Red Cross, which would block
the practice of holding "ghost detainees." Unfortunately it would not
cover the CIA's practice of "extraordinary rendition" where we send
detainees to other countries for possible torture.
McCain's key amendment prohibits the "cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment" of any person in
amendment was based on the UN Convention
Against Torture, which the
The administration says the treaty doesn't apply to foreigners outside
the country. The White House opposes any restrictions it thinks would tie the
president's hands in wartime.
The sadistic, humiliating treatment of Iraqis, Afghans and others
rounded up by
But Bush and Rumsfeld have taken no
responsibility.
Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, an Army Reserve
officer in charge of military police at Abu Ghraib,
was demoted and given a written reprimand. But otherwise low-ranking MPs have
been forced to take the fall.
It is high time that the Pentagon stopped investigating itself.
Sen. Carl Levin, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, has
proposed an amendment to the defense bill to create an independent panel to
review the detention and interrogation practices that have led us down this
shameful path.
Meantime, consideration of the defense legislation, including the
controversial amendments, has been put off until fall. Let's hope wiser and
kinder heads prevail by then.
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H.
from Professor James Stevenson
The Associated Press
copyright
Carter:
embarrassment and had given extremists an excuse
to attack the
Carter also criticized the U.S.-led war in
"I think what's going on in
Carter said, however, that terrorist acts could not be justified, and
that while
Critics of President Bush's administration have long accused the
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base on the southeastern
tip of
"What has happened at
Earlier this month, Carter called for the
Carter, who won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, has been an outspoken critic
of the
"I thought then, and I think now, that the invasion of
The Baptist World Alliance, comprising more than 200 Baptist unions
around the world, was formed in
An estimated 12,700 delegates gathered in the city of
He praised British police and intelligence services for the swift
arrests in connection with the July 21 failed bombing attempts on
"I'm very proud to be in a nation that stands so stalwart against
terrorism with us," he said. "The people of my country have united
our hearts and sympathy for the tragedy that you have suffered from
terrorism."
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Francis McCollum Feeley
Professor of American Studies/
Director of Research at CEIMSA-IN-EXILE
http://dimension.ucsd.edu/CEIMSA-IN-EXILE/