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POPSSedition Act of 1918 U.S. citizens, including members of the Industrial Workers of the World union, were also imprisoned during World War I for their anti-war dissent under the provisions of the Sedition Act. Anti-war protesters were arrested by the hundreds as speaking out against the draft and the war became illegal under this law.
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POPSOpium, Rape and the American Way
Truth from the women in Afghanistan: (read the whole article for the real story) "In eight years less than 2,000 Talib have been killed and more than 8,000 innocent civilians has been killed," she went on. "We believe that this is not war on terror. This is war on innocent civilians. Look at the massacres carried out by NATO forces in Afghanistan. Look what they did in May in the Farah province, where more than 150 civilians were killed, most of them women and children. They used white phosphorus and cluster bombs. There were 200 civilians on 9th of September killed in the Kunduz province, again most of them women and children. You can see the Web site of professor Marc Herold, this democratic man, to know better the war crimes in Afghanistan imposed on our people. The United States and NATO eight years ago occupied my country under the banner of woman's rights and democracy. But they have only pushed us from the frying pan into the fire. They put into power men who are photocopies o
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POPSReviewReviewReviewReview The American Way of War: Guided Missiles, Misguided Men, and a Republic in PRAISE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY OF WAR. "Throughout our history' the impetus to using force sometimes has seemed as inevitable as water circling an open drain, but war is not always the best way to defend our security interests. Eugene Jarecki examines the evolution of America's views about war,up through the invasion of Iraq.He knows how to ask the important questions, and he keeps asking until he gets the answers. This is the kind of insightful dialogue that can help ensure that when we act, we act not of fear, but are grounded in confidence in our ideals" - Senator Patric Leahy -
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POPSKeep the government out of the news business
Turning to Washington for help to save the declining news business says much about the mentality of mainstream journalism leaders, an attitude that we and the government are on the same side. This is the mentality that led to the news establishment’s acceptance of the Iraq War. Go to the clip to learn what happened to Mother Jones after becoming a tax exempt non-profit after it reported on lobbying in Washington. Once you allow the government or private corporation to have any controlling link to the media you lose independence. Editors become fearful of criticizing the hand that feeds it. Publishers and benefactors become cozy and unbiased reports become fewer and fewer. Journalism becomes a de facto advertisement for consumer products. We hope in the future we’ll see more I.F. Stones, more guerrilla warriors on the Web, in print and on the air. Because of them—and not because of a government handout—great reporting will survive, as it always has.
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POPSU.N. on Israeli War Crimes
The Goldstone Report now has been approved overwhelmingly by the UN General Assembly. The report calls for Israel to investigate it's war crime accusations...and for the Palestinians to investiage theirs -- and says the slow starvation of over a million and half people in the Gaza Strip should stop. Now, it seems it goes to the Security Council. Which means, if things go as usual, the USA will veto it and it will end there. The USA has does similar actions at the UN for decades, protecting Israel, no matter what. The USA House of Congress has even gone on record, this week, opposing this war crimes report. Israel yesterday seized a ship with weapons and said they come from Iran and this was a war crime...also pointing out that Russia, the USA, China, etc. are all guility of war crimes. The conclusion appears to be that war is a war crime. Everybody's guilty. And let's just forget it. ...um, except when talking about the Nazi's of WWII or the Bosnian Serbs curre
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POPS'The Axis of Idiots' - note from a Retired Marine You want to run from Iraq and abandon the Iraqis to murderers just as you did to the Vietnamese. Iraq, like Vietnam, is another war that you were for, before you were against it. John Murtha, you said our military was broken. You said we can't win militarily in Iraq. You accused United States Marines of cold-blooded murder without proof and said we should redeploy to Okinawa. Okinawa, John? And the Democrats call you their military expert! Are you sure you didn't suffer a traumatic brain injury while you were off building your war hero resume? You're a sad, pitiable, corrupt and washed up politician. You're not a Marine, sir. You wouldn't amount to a good pimple on a real Marine's butt. You're a phony and a disgrace. Run away, John.
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POPSUS House: UN report on Gaza 'war crimes' is biased The Goldstone report lambasted both sides in the war, which killed up to 1,387 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, but was harsher toward Israel. It gave Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants six months to mount credible investigations or face possible prosecution in the Hague. Both Israel and Hamas have denied committing any war crimes. Israel has criticized the report as unbalanced and says the 47-nation Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council, which commissioned the report, is biased against the Jewish state. (Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau in New York; editing by Todd Eastham)
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POPSEmergency! Congress Debates Burying the Goldstone Report! "TELL CONGRESS TO RESPECT US AND INTERNATIONAL LAW!" "What message are we sending to the rest of the world when we grant Israel complete impunity? This legislation has very important implications beyond the war crimes committed in Gaza. Israel has responded to the report by demanding the Western powers rewrite international and US law, warning that acceptance of the Goldstone report will mean that the US’ military campaigns in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan will be subject to similar scrutiny. (Judge Goldstone has drawn a distinction – stating that his report finds that Israel deliberately targeted civilians). This legislation also ignores serious allegations that Israel has violated the US Arms Export Control Act."
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POPSBill Moyers: Bring Back the Draft The President is just about ready to send more troops. Maybe 44 thousand, that's the number General McChrystal wants, bringing the total to over 100 thousand. When I read speculation last weekend that the actual number needed might be 600 thousand, I winced. I can still see President Lyndon Johnson's face when he asked his generals how many years and how many troops it would take to win in Vietnam. One of them answered, "Ten years and one million." He was right on the time and wrong on the number-- two and a half million American soldiers would serve in Vietnam, and we still lost.
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POPS The Obama Work-Out War-weary Obama manages a decision … more golf! Boston Herald: WASHINGTON - President Obama has outperformed former President George Bush in a key area - he’s hit the links as many times in nine months as Bush did in nearly three years, political Web sites reported. Politico, a political news and gossip site, and the Chicago Tribune’s The Swamp, reported that CBS’ Mark Knoller - who documents presidential statistics - Tweeted Sunday, “Today - Obama ties Pres. Bush in the number of rounds of golf played in office: 24. Took Bush 2 yrs & 10 months.” The Swamp noted that after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Bush quit golf, saying, “I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander-in-chief playing golf . . . I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal . . . ” Come on, guys. Iraq was different. That was Bush’s war. Afghanistan? That’s Bush’s other war! http://www.julescrittenden.com/2009/10/27/golf-for-we-not-for-thee/
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POPSI've been betrayed by this Government, says Iraq War hero who won George Cross He said that when he received his George Cross, ‘the Queen told me she had not presented a GC for “such a long time” and that it was “a privilege” to give it to me’. Now 25, he tells the MAIL ON SUNDAY with typical bravery how his pride was soon eclipsed by anger at the Government's mistreatment of the Armed Forces and why he took the drastic step of quitting army life earlier this year... Read more: http://www.mailonsunday.ie/news/article-1224283/Ive-betrayed-Government-says-Iraq-War-hero-won-George-Cross-works-centre.html#ixzz0VeDJEqdd
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POPS Speech of Joseph McCarthy, Wheeling, West Virginia, February 9, 1950 Today we can almost physically hear the mutterings and rumblings of an invigorated god of war. You can see it, feel it, and hear it all the way from the Indochina hills, from the shores of Formosa, right over into the very heart of Europe itself. The one encouraging thing is that the “mad moment” has not yet arrived for the firing of the gun or the exploding of the bomb which will set civilization about the final task of destroying itself. There is still a hope for peace if we finally decide that no longer can we safely blind our eyes and close our ears to those facts which are shaping up more and more clearly . . . and that is that we are now engaged in a show-down fight . . . not the usual war between nations for land areas or other material gains, but a war between two diametrically opposed ideologies.
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POPSReal men don't read D.C. pundits
Even worse than Krauthammer's column today, though, was David Brooks in the New York Times. Partly it's because Brooks likes to pretend to be open-minded and reasonable, while spouting neocon talking points, and occasionally liberals get pulled in by him. But today was trademark lazy ideological Brooks. As Glenn Greenwald notes, unbelievably he bragged about "doing what journalists are supposed to do" -- which he defined as talking to a handful of anonymous pro-war sources, who uniformly criticized Obama's inaction to date on McCrystal's troop request. That's some brave shit. Not quite David Rohde brave, but hey, he made the calls! If it was unanimous, that means he didn't call retired Marine Matthew Hoh, who resigned from a civilian post in Afghanistan this week because he said we can't win, and our presense is only fueling the insurgency. Hoh told the Washington Post's Karen de Young he's "not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love" and that he believes
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POPS“Apocalypse: The Second World War” ~ Veterans Day November 11, 2009 remember the guys who have been fighting them in the sand, fighting them in the dust, fighting them in the mountains, and now fight on in the hospital wards. The Valour IT push is on, to give laptops to wounded servicemen. At the invitation of Cassandra at Villainous Company, whose Marine husband is forward deployed in Afghanistan, we’re with Team Marines this year. Pushing the Marines ahead is just the fun part of the drive. It all goes to everyone in all branches. Give as you can. Donate via Team Marines Apropos of all of the above, VC offers up a good quick read: "Marines though the Lens of History".
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POPSInvested In War n 2004, the first full year after the current Iraq war began, Republican and Democratic lawmakers-both hawks and doves invested between $74.9 million and 161.3 million in companies under contract with the DoD. No wonder the Democratic congress kept approving the enormous spending bills on the war, since a significant portion of it happens to end up in their deep pockets. Interestingly, the report also mentioned that members of the senate foreign relations and armed services committees which oversee the Iraq war had between $32 million and $44 million invested in companies with DoD contracts. The burning questions for many people are the following: Are there any ethics left in politics? Could the universe ever exist without wars? The answer is no, because wars have been a major part of our social make up, in addition they force geostrategic changes, make profits for the elite, and reduce population.
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POPSU.N. Rights Official Backs Gaza Report We can't allow Zionism to equal genocide. Right now over one and a half million people are being slowly starved to death in the Gaza Strip. Encourage our politicians to stop that. All else is meaningless words. Stop the Blockade.
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POPSMalalai Joya, Afghanistan Woman Speaks Out For expressing my views I have been expelled from my seat in parliament, and I have survived numerous assassination attempts. The fact that I was kicked out of office while brutal warlords enjoyed immunity from prosecution for their crimes should tell you all you need to know about the "democracy" backed by Nato troops. In the constitution it forbids those guilty of war crimes from running for high office. Yet Karzai has named two notorious warlords, Fahim and Khalili, as his running mates for the upcoming presidential election. Under the shadow of warlordism, corruption and occupation, this vote will have no legitimacy, and once again it seems the real choice will be made behind closed doors in the White House. As we say in Afghanistan, "the same donkey with a new saddle".
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POPSU.S. Official Resigns Over Afghanistan War Policy Hoh's letter caused a stir in the Obama administration, and he was hastened to meetings with senior U.S. officials in Kabul and Washington. They praised his record of service and begged him to stay, offering him new positions in both locations. Hoh initially accepted the Washington job, but changed his mind a week later. Hoh said that his act of protest and decision to speak out were painful, even "nauseating" at times, but he was strongly motivated by the friends he had lost on the battlefield and the mental anguish he has experienced since returning home. "I want people in Iowa, people in Arkansas, people in Arizona, to call their congressman and say, 'Listen, I don't think this is right,' " he explained, adding that he "is not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love."
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