PEACES
compiled by Carol Baum
Satirical Websites with a Point
“These Weapons of Mass Destruction cannot be displayed” is modeled
after the site that pops up when a web address can’t be found. It notes
that “The weapons you are looking for are currently unavailable. The country
might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your
weapons inspectors mandate.” Suggestions offered include “click the
bomb button if you are Donald Rumsfeld.” The site links to the “Weapons
of Mass Destruction Emporium,” which has t-shirts saying “My friends
went to Iraq to look for Weapons of Mass Destruction and all they found was
this lousy t-shirt!” See <www.coxar. pwp.blueyonder.co.uk>.
The “War Profiteers Card Deck” is a counterpoint to the Bush Administration’s
“Iraq’s Most Wanted Playing Cards,” and exposes some of the real
war criminals in the US’ endless “war on terrorism.” Each suit
in the deck represents a different category of war profiteers: oil, gas and
energy companies; US government officials; military and defense contractors;
and heads of industry, finance, media, policy and hype. Each card is fully described.
The deck is a terrific educational tool. See <www.war
profiteers.com/index.html>.
Speaking of War Profiteering…
The Institute for Southern Studies has initiated a “Campaign to Stop the
War Profiteers,” and many other organizations have signed on. The campaign
calls for an end to the second invasion of Iraq by corporate interests and calls
on elected leaders to:
• Hold congressional hearings to investigate war profiteering and the closed-bid
“reconstruction” contract in Iraq given to a handful of corporations
such as Bechtel, Halliburton, and MCI.
• Reign in war profiteering by military contractors through an “Excess
Profits Tax.”
• Halt the US-led drive to hand over Iraq’s industries, services and
resources to powerful multinational corporations.
For more information contact them at 919-419-8311x27 or visit <www. southernstudies.org/index.asp>.
“Other” September 11ths
James Carroll of the Boston Globe notes “other” September 11ths:
• Sept. 11, 1906 – More than 3,000 Indian men gathered in Johannesburg,
South Africa to denounce a new set of racial laws condemning them to second-class
citizenship. Gandhi was among them.
• Sept. 11, 1944 – Allied terror bombing of Darmstadt, Germany.
• Sept. 11, 1945 – Secretary Of War Stimson proposed to President
Truman that the US share the secrets of the atomic bomb with the Soviet Union
in order to head off an arms race…a suggestion which was not taken.
• Sept. 11, 1973 – US-sponsored terrorist overthrow of the democratically
elected government of Chile.
Santa Cruz Votes to Impeach Bush
On Tuesday, September 9, Santa Cruz, CA became the first local government “to
ask Congress to look into impeaching President Bush on charges he deceived the
American public about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and has used the
September 11 attacks as an excuse to crush civil rights.” It passed by
a 6 to 1 vote.
Law Schools Sue Defense Dept.
On September 19 a group of law schools filed a suit against the Defense Department
and other government agencies, charging them with “violating the First
Amendment by forcing law schools to allow military recruiters on campus.”
Many law schools had previously banned military recruiters because the ban on
gays and lesbians serving openly in the military conflicted with non-discrimination
policies of the schools. Almost all the schools backed down on their banning
of recruiters after the Defense Department threatened them with loss of federal
funding.
The recently-formed Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, an organization
of law schools and other academic institutions, filed the suit along with the
Society of American Law Teachers, two student groups, and three Rutgers law
students.
Military Resister Handed Six Month Sentence
Twenty-one-year-old military resister Stephen Funk was sentenced on September
10 to six months in military prison for “unauthorized absence” during
the war on Iraq. In a partial victory, he was acquitted of charges of desertion,
a much more serious crime.
Stephen had joined the Marines last year, and by April 2003 had declared himself
a pacifist. He became one of the first members of the US military to apply for
conscientious objector (CO) status during the war on Iraq. At the same time
he said he was gay. He is among 23 Marines who applied for CO status during
the war on Iraq. None of the others are being prosecuted, the Marines have said,
because they continued to report for duty while their applications for conscientious
objector status were under review.
Stephen’s lawyer argued that he was selectively prosecuted because he attended
anti-war rallies, publicly criticized Marine training methods and publicized
soldiers’ options of seeking conscientious objector status.
Stephen can be written to at Building 1041, PSC 20140, Camp Lejeune NC 28542.