Friends,
Look over the NCNR
petition, and let me know if you can sign on to it. Also consider joining us in
delivering it to the congressional leaders on July 12. Finally, let me
know if you can be part of the Rivers of Blood II action on the U.S. Capitol
steps after the petition delivery. This action will call attention to the
fact that blood flows through the U.S. Capitol like a river as Congress
continues to vote for war funding. We will commemorate Dr. King’s riverside
Church speech, and honor Henry David Thoreau, born July 12, 1817. Unless we
speak out against the warmongering, it will only get worse. Can we please add
your name to this petition?
Kagiso,
Max
Petition from the National Campaign for
Nonviolent Resistance, July 12, 2017
To Representatives Paul Ryan and Nancy
Pelosi, and Senators Mitch McConnell and Charles Schumer
As members of the National Campaign for
Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR], we are petitioning you on behalf of the
voiceless, the poor, the middle class, the immigrants and people whose pleas
are ignored. Sadly, President Trump has embarked on a policy in favor of
militarism, income inequality and climate chaos. As part of his invidiousness,
he has targeted immigrants and people of the Muslim faith. We and so many
others reject Trumpism, and we urge you as a legislator to also reject the
president’s pernicious policies. You could do this by passing laws which
severely cut the military budget, provide a living wage for all, protect Mother
Earth, and recognize that most immigrants are people fleeing human rights
abuses.
Of most concern to NCNR is the U.S.
empire. There are an estimated 800 military bases around the world, and
members of the U.S. military are currently involved in seven wars.
Special operations soldiers may be involved in other conflicts as well.
In February, President Trump requested an additional $54 billion for the
military, while making drastic cuts to social programs. We cannot accept
this, as spending on militarism currently consumes some 50% of the
discretionary federal budget.
As members of peace and justice
organizations opposed to our government’s failed domestic and foreign policies,
we are speaking out to challenge you to produce a budget which benefits the
ninety-nine percent, most importantly the poor, rather than a wealthy and
privileged elite. At home, our economic system has been a bust for most
everyone but the one percent. Overseas, U.S. warmongering has had a
devastating effect, most especially in the Middle East and Africa. For example,
the government is using militarized unmanned aerial vehicles (or drones) to
kill people, mostly civilians, in at least seven countries. The use of armed
drones is wrong on many levels: the illegality of assassinations, the violation
of international law and the Constitutional protection of due process, the lack
of Congressional approval and the disregard of sovereignty. Instead of
militarism, Congress should emphasize diplomacy and humanitarian aid.
Disregard of the scientific research for
the causes of climate chaos is leading to the destruction of the planet.
It can be argued that the Pentagon is the entity most responsible for ecocide.
Poverty is adversely affecting the quality
of life for too many citizens. The people are suffering from lack of
food, health care, education, a living wage, adequate housing, and the list
goes on. It is unconscionable that we have children in the United States
going to bed hungry. Just a portion of the bloated Pentagon budget
redirected towards human needs could alleviate this suffering and rebuild our
crumbling infrastructure.
Since the U.S. has refused to get rid of
its nuclear arsenal, which is capable of annihilation of all life on the
planet, our government is extremely hypocritical in urging North Korea to
disarm. And the president, it seems, may lead us into a Hot War with
North Korea. This would be a tragedy of unforeseen consequence.
Dangerous tensions and brinkmanship on the
Korean peninsula could lead to armed conflict. North Korea continues its
missile tests, and in response the Trump Administration has deployed the USS
Michigan, a Trident submarine which is probably carrying nuclear weapons.
South Korea could be considered a US
military outpost. For example, the US installed THAAD, “a missile defense
system,” and some portion of the South Korea population has protested these war
cries from the Trump Administration. US intrusion into Korean affairs is
but one example of the reach of the U.S. Empire. Beating this war drum is a
sure-fire way of demanding more money for the US military budget.
On the
100th anniversary of the Great War, remember what Randolph Bourne told us:
“War is the health of the State. It automatically sets in motion
throughout society those irresistible forces for uniformity, for passionate
co-operation with the Government in coercing into obedience the minority groups
and individuals which lack the larger herd sense.” Note that the Pentagon
budget has never been audited.
The president’s first act of war was
the invasion in Yemen by the navy Seals who left behind a $75 million dollar
plane in this bungled operation. The USS Zumwalt, which was commissioned
in Baltimore in October 2016, cost more than $4 billion, way over budget.
Last year, the ship broke down in the Panama Canal.
When President Trump made his call
for increasing the military budget, he did it on the USS Gerald Ford.
This battleship is not seaworthy, and due to cost over-runs has a price tag of
more than $17 billion,
The 59 sea-launched cruise missiles
that Trump unleashed on a Syrian airport cost about $30 million. The
airport was in use the following day.
And on the Thursday before Easter,
the U.S. military used MOAB, the largest non-nuclear bomb ever, in Afghanistan.
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the use of MOAB was “an immense
atrocity against the Afghan people.”
A new approach to leadership is required
to address the problems and crises we all face. We have the audacity to
petition you to give serious consideration to the demands stated here.
This is the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech at the
Riverside Church in Manhattan, entitled “Beyond
Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.” This was a prophetic
speech. King recognized the U.S. government was fighting an imperial war
in Vietnam. He pointed out that this was “the symptom of a far deeper malady
within the American spirit.” The Washington powerbrokers did not listen to
King. He predicted our current disastrous situation: “we shall
surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved
for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and
strength without sight.” As Congressional leaders, you should heed the words of
King and renounce militarism, racism, income inequality and climate
chaos. Failure to do so will cause
so many of us to nonviolently resist an administration bent on continuing
policies which will lead to more war, more inequality and ecocide.
In peace,
Joy First, Malachy Kilbride, Max
Obuszewski and Janice Sevre-Duszynska
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center,
325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email:
mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class has always declared the wars; the
subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to
gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and
everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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