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Madison Pledge of Resistance
6014 Gateway Green
Madison, WI 53716
February 16, 2012
Colonel Gary Ebben, Commander
Volk Field/Camp Williams
Camp Douglas, WI 54618
Dear Colonel Ebben,
We are writing to you for the second time, a group of concerned Wisconsin citizens who want to see an end to all drone warfare.
Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Non-Violence, a WNPJ member group, writes: If the U.S. public looked long and hard into a mirror reflecting the civilian atrocities that have occurred in Afghanistan, over the past ten months, we would see ourselves as people who have collaborated with and paid for war crimes committed against innocent civilians who meant us no harm... It’s worthwhile to wonder, how did we become this pacified?
Planting the Seeds - October 30, 2010* Nur Agha Akbari and his family live in Kabul, on an unpaved, pitted
street lined by mud brick homes. When we visited him this week, his oldest son, age 13, led us to a sitting room inside their rented two-story apartment, furnished with simple mats and pillows. The youngster smiled shyly as he served us tea. Then his father entered the room.
Is a youngster in Afghanistan as valuable as one of the Obama children? Of course. Kathy Kelly, writing from Australia, puts it into perspective.
Report from Kabul 10/21/10 by Kathy Kelly. Khamad Jan, age 22, remembers that, as a youngster, he was a good student who enjoyed studying. “Now, I can’t seem to think,” he said sadly, looking at the ground. There was a long pause. “War does this to your mind.” He and his family fled their village when Taliban forces began to attack the area. Bamiyan Province is home to a great number of Hazara families, and Khamad Jan's is one of them. Traditionally, other Afghan ethnic groups have discriminated against Hazaras, regarding them as descendants of Mongolian tribes and therefore inferior. During the Taliban attacks, Khamad Jan’s father was captured and killed. (photo:Khamad Jan at construction site, Bamiyan, Afghanistan.) To learn more of this story - read on....
A federal judge has dismissed all charges against 131 antiwar protesters who were arrested on December 16 at the White House. The protest was organized by Veterans for Peace and included many veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, along with Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. Those who participated in the action stated that the dismissal was "clearly a victory for opposition to undeclared wars which are illegal under international law, have led to the destruction of societies in Iraq and Afghanistan, bled the US Treasury in a time of recession, and caused human rights violations against civilians and combatants." (Full press release below.)
John LaForge of Nukewatch, a longtime WNPJ member group based in northern Wisconsin, writes in a Capital Times opinion column that the new START treaty to reduce nuclear weapons uses some voodoo math to get to its new totals, and actual reductions are very small.
Jason Moon, a WNPJ Peacemaker in 2009, is a singer-songwriter, an Iraq war veteran, a board member of the Homeless Veterans Initiative of Milwaukee Veterans for Peace, was featured on WUWM Radio's Lake Effect program on March 10. His new album, Trying to Find My Way Home, is his first since 1996. Listen here. More info or order on Jason's website.
Imagine 700,000 Wisconsin households receiving Peace Action's Peace Voter guides the week prior to the election, as part of a non-partisan get out the vote campaign.
Let’s make it happen - for $25, add your name to a Peace Voter half-page signature ad!
Donate online here, or call 414-964-5158 to make your donation today! Commitments are needed by Friday, Oct 26.
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608-250-9240, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, 122 State Street, Suite 405A, Madison, WI 53703, Send an email to the office diane@wnpj.org.
WNPJ is a member of the Community Shares of Wisconsin.
