Baltimore HIROSHIMA COMMEMORATION/John Bolton's 'Military Options' for North Korea Denounced as 'Utter Lunacy'

Friends,

   For the 33rd year, the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee will remember the atomic bombings of Japan on August 6 & 9, 1945, which killed more than 200,000 people. It has been 71 years since these awful events occurred. Other organizations involved in the commemorations are the Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility, Crabshell Alliance and Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore.

HIROSHIMA COMMEMORATION on Sunday, August 6, 2017

5:30 PM Outside Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N, Charles Street, demonstrate in favor of the treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons: Fifty nations must ratify the Convention to Ban Nuclear Weapons, and ratification begins on September 20.  One hundred and twenty two countries signed on to the convention, but they must take it back to their nations for ratification by whatever means each nation has for ratification. Commemorate Hiroshima.

6:30 PM Inside Homewood Meetinghouse, savor a potluck dinner with members of the peace and justice community. David Eberhardt will again share some poetry, and Joseph Byrne, from Baltimore’s Jonah House, will perform some dulcimer music.

7:15 PM Dr. Gwen DuBois, Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility, will discuss her work in New York City during the gathering at the United Nations to ban nuclear weapons.  A statement will be read from Rev. Dr. Mankekolo Mahlangu-Ngcobo, who will share her thoughts about living in apartheid South Africa.  Rev. Mahlangu-Ngcobo will be in South Africa on August 6 for a Prayer Intercession in Parliament. Note South Africa is the first nuclear nation to end its program. 

RSVP at mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net or 410-323-1607. Kagiso, Max

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/03/john-boltons-military-options-north-korea-denounced-utter-lunacy

Thursday, August 03, 2017

John Bolton's 'Military Options' for North Korea Denounced as 'Utter Lunacy'

"John Bolton has been writing about bombing other countries for at least two decades."

Jake Johnson, staff writer

"

   Americans want to see diplomatic engagement with North Korea, not an escalation of tensions and the threat of nuclear war," writes Kerri Kennedy, Associate General Secretary for International Programs at AFSC. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc)

  Amid reports that he is being considered by President Donald Trump to replace Gen. H.R. McMaster as national security adviser, John Bolton wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday outlining "military options for North Korea," which were immediately characterized as "dangerous" and "utter lunacy."

"John Bolton has been writing about bombing other countries for at least two decades."
—Arash Karami, Al-Monitor

   Bolton begins by arguing that recent ballistic missile tests by North Korea indicate that sanctions and diplomatic initiatives are destined to fail. In their place, Bolton puts forth several options, which include a preemptive strike on "Pyongyang's known nuclear facilities" and a series of airstrikes followed by ground troops. The U.S. could also "wait until a missile is poised for launch toward America, and then destroy it," an approach Bolton concedes comes "at the cost of increased risk."

   Bolton also takes aim at Iran, a nation he says poses a threat "nearly as imminent" as North Korea.

   Formerly the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Bolton has long been an advocate of aggressive military action, even when the risk of civilian casualties is enormous. Bolton was a prominent booster of the Iraq War—which he still believes was a good idea—and he has since frequently graced the pages of major newspapers calling for the U.S. to use force to solve its most pressing conflicts overseas.

    In an infamous 2015 New York Times op-ed, Bolton argued that if the U.S. wishes to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, resort to military action—namely, bombing—will be necessary.

   The piece was denounced as "reckless" at the time, and Bolton's recommendations for military action in North Korea were met with similar rebukes.

   Critics argued that Bolton's dismissal of diplomatic alternatives that have yet to be fully explored indicates that he has learned nothing from the lessons of Iraq.

  Bolton's op-ed comes as many are warning that military posturing between world powers could rapidly devolve into a "nuclear nightmare."

   "Americans want to see diplomatic engagement with North Korea, not an escalation of tensions and the threat of nuclear war," writes Kerri Kennedy, associate general secretary for international programs at AFSC. "What we need now instead of military threats is the political will for real engagement."

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"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