Tag: nonviolence
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Dear Democrats: A Letter for Peace in the Middle East
If the Democratic Party and its presidential nominee, Joe Biden, have a weak spot, it is their general fondness –since the debacle of the Vietnam War– for military solutions and support, including the selling of American weapons, of governments whose commitment to democracy and human rights leave much to be desired. So in the interest […]
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Why I am a “bleeding-heart liberal”
To be “liberal” is to be “open to new ideas” and “favourable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms.” Given the above definition, can a true liberal be a promoter or defender of that most ancient flaw of humanity–war? Is such a thing as a “liberal hawk” logical or possible? One of the oldest […]
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In the Aftermath of Dropping the “MOAB” Bomb on Afghanistan
By John Frederick Kaufman So the United States suddenly felt the need to give our MOAB (“mother of all bombs”)–more officially known as GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast–a try on Thursday in the desert of Eastern Afghanistan. Though the bomb has been around for awhile, neither Presidents George W. Bush nor Barack Obama cared to actually […]
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A Poem: “Fists and Flags”
By John Frederick Kaufman Fists and Flags “America first!” the president cried and raised his fist to punch the sky while someone punched a fascist in the head: the fist is first of many lies, grip of welcome weaponized. In my hand I hold a pen to strike out the wall-like words that slam […]
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In Guns We Trust, Again and Again
Surely it’s time to refute the great American myth our elected representatives in Washington, D.C. so believe in: an armed citizenry and war abroad will protect us from criminal and terrorist violence. There is a sort of mass mental incongruity going on, a splitting of the political brain in which the epidemic of “mass shootings” is deplored and denounced but ignored while generally […]
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After Paris terrorist attack, it’s either war or “appeasement” many say
Arguing against military retaliation/intervention is not appeasement or surrender; it is an attempt to limit violence everywhere . . .
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Debate in Wisconsin? Let’s talk about Patriotgate
One question not heard at last night’s Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee was anything about what we might call “Patriotgate.” This has nothing to do with deflated footballs but does include the New England Patriots, as well as the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers and the UW-Madison Badgers. A report released last week by Arizona Senators Jeff Flake and […]
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“Killing Blindly in the Endless War” by Kathy Kelly
“These are people who had been working hard for months, non-stop for the past week. They had not gone home, they had not seen their families, they had just been working in the hospital to help people… and now they are dead. These people are friends, close friends. I have no words to express this. […]
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Bombing Hospitals All in a Day’s Work
[From the Institute of Policy Studies via Common Dreams] By Phyllis Bennis The destruction of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, with 22 dead so far, including doctors, other staff and patients, capped a week that also saw the bombing of another hospital in Afghanistan, plus the U.S.-backed Saudi Arabian bombing of a […]
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An Anti-War Dog Speaks Out
(Photo in the public domain in the United States: Hulton Archive/Getty Images. “American actor Gloria Swanson (1899 – 1983) stands on tiptoes on the prow of a motorboat while Teddy the dog sits with his paws on the steering wheel in a still from director Clarence G Badger’s film Teddy at the Throttle (1917)”. ) By […]
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The Right to Peace on the International Day of Peace
On this International Day of Peace , as the United States and other nations have returned to war in the Middle East, it is appropriate to read again the United Nations’ document “Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace”, this year celebrating its 30th anniversary. The United Nations Security Council has itself approved war […]
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No Joke: Pres. Obama Sends WI Sen. Ron Johnson to the U.N.
Showing the nation that he still has a sense of humor, Pres. Obama nominated Wisconsin’s foreign policy firebrand , Sen. Ron Johnson, to attend the 69th United Nations General Assembly. Johnson, who is not a great fan of what the United Nations does, accepted graciously and issued a statement: “I intend to use this opportunity to gain insight […]
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U.S. Wrong to Choose War Again
Back in May of this year, in a speech at the West Point military academy, President Obama spoke of confronting foreign terrorists not with military violence but with strategic cooperation among nations: “For the foreseeable future, the most direct threat to America at home and abroad remains terrorism. But a strategy that involves invading every country that harbors […]
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David Giffey: Chuck Goranson’s legacy: working for peace and helping vets : Ct
Via The Capital Times of Madison, WI and writer David Giffey comes this fine opinion piece on Vietnam War vet and peace activist Chuck Goranson. –JK David Giffey: Chuck Goranson’s legacy: working for peace and helping vets : Ct.
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The “Way Forward”: More War?
“Nonviolent resistance, at the very least, practices what it preaches.”
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Opposing More U.S. War in Iraq, Middle East and Ukraine
I’m breaking my summer silence once again to declare, for what it’s worth, my strong opposition– to the United States’ new bombing campaign in Iraq, the return of military hostilities between Hamas and Israel, and the ongoing war in Ukraine which is increasing the likelihood that Putin will order Russian troops to invade Ukraine, possibly […]
The Pacific 