Wednesday, April 30, 2008

CODEPINK in Curitiba, Brazil



http://www.forumsocialdomercosul.org/modules/noticias/article.php?storyid=313

This past weekend, CODEPINK took part in the Social Forum of the countries of Mercosul in Curitiba, Brazil. (Mercosul refers to the southern common market of South America: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.) Sponsored by CASLA, Casa Latinoamericana through the efforts of Gladys and Dimas De Souza who founded the cultural institute. Gladys, a retired pediatrician and Dimas a tenured sociology professor at the state university provided wonderful support and encouragement to Simone and I. They had planned a full agenda of speaking engagements at the forum and area universities.

On the first day there Simone and I participated in a panel discussion taped for the TV program called Parana Educativa with three other South American activists. I think we did pretty well especially considering the questions were in PORTUGUESE! It will be aired in all of Latin America Ch 9 and Telesur on May 25. Beto Almeido the anchorman of this discussion panel was warm and welcoming.




At this event, Simone Delgado (NY) and I also participated on the Peace panel and the Women's panels.
http://www.forumsocialdomercosul.org/modules/galeria/fotos.php?evento=12 We talked about CODEPINK work and how we need the support of women in Latin America to bring about an end to the violence in Iraq. At the women's panel we shared the beautiful slideshow that Rae put together and presented a very brief history of CP and our creative tactics.



On Monday, junior high students participating in "green" projects to help their state preserve the aquifer.

The event also invited popular progressive politicians Cuellar Araujo and the governor of the State of Parana, where Curitiba was held, Roberto uiĆ£o.


The president of FDIM, the International Democratic Federation of Women, Marcia Campos put out the call to each of the participating women's groups to be more active. She said and I paraphrase, "If they can protest in the belly of the beast, (referring to the land of the imperialist Bush) then why can't they?


We were so proud and pleased that a Junior High school teacher and her students whose mothers were so inspired the day before by the CODEPINK slide show that they sent their daughters the next day to meet us at the forum.

Simone and I were overwhelmed by the support and encouragement provided by all. We recruited around 50 people to CODEPINK from our signup sheets at the event over the weekend and spoke to over 500 from events outside the forum! (Thanks to Simone who picked up where I left off after coming home for my trial.)

THE PEOPLE UNITED WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED!
EL PUEBLO UNIDO JAMAS SERA VENCIDO!

Trip to Jordan and Syria to Research Plight of Iraqi Refugees

By Medea Benjamin

Day One/ April 29, Amman, Jordan
It was an amazingly full first day in Jordan. Asma Al-Haidari, a brilliant Iraqi woman who lives in Amman and works with political as well as humanitarian groups, picked me up at 8am from the Toledo Hotel. Our first stop was the office of UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees), where a group of about 40 Iraqis was waiting on line to register with the agency or ask for some type of assistance. We started talking to the people on line. One woman, who was completely covered in a black abaya except for her eyes, had a disabled son she was trying to get medical help for. Another woman had a child with a tumor who needed an operation. All had fled the violence in Iraq and were living in Jordan without funds and in legal limbo.

A group of men gathered around us and started talking all at once.

“Please help me. I need to get out of Jordan.”

“We’re not allowed to work here; how are we supposed to support our families? We have used up all our savings.”

“If we go back to Iraq we’ll be killed. Can’t you help me get to the United States?”

I asked the men what they did back home. One was in the army. Another was a sports trainer. Another an engineer. All were used to working hard and taking care of their families. Having fled the terror in Iraq, they were now living hand to mouth without jobs, without a future and feeling desperate. I felt terrible that I wasn’t able to do anything for them.

We went inside to talk to the staff at UNHCR, including Anna-Maria Deutschlander, a “Senior Protection Officer” in charge of helping Iraqis to be resettled in other countries. She talked to us about the long, difficult process of resettlement and how few countries wanted to take in the Iraqis. “The Swedes were originally very generous, but now they are clamping down. Most European countries feel the U.S. is responsible and should take the lead, but the U.S. has a goal this year of only 12,000—a drop in the bucket—and I doubt they’ll even take that many,” Anna-Marie told us.

We also talked to one of the program officers who deals with the food and cash assistance programs. I was shocked to hear that the UNHCR only distributed cash assistance to a tiny percentage of the refugees, just 1,800, and food assistance to only 3,550, which they distribute through a group called the Jordanian Alliance Against Hunger. Moreover, only 53,000 of the estimated 500,000 refugees in Jordan have even registered with the UNHCR.

I asked why so few were registered. Some Iraqis, they said, are afraid to register because they are in Jordan illegally, and they think it is better to lay low. They also see little benefit to registering, as there are few services and people don’t have to be registered to get them. Whatever the case, the UN outreach and support seems to be surprisingly limited. “If we had more staff and more funds, we could of course do much more,” said Anna-Marie. “But our present budget is just until June and we have no idea what we’ll have to work with in the future, so it’s very hard to plan.”

In a diplomatic way, the staff also conveyed their frustration with the politics that infuses the refugee situation. In Syria, where the government is at odds with the U.S., the government is more open about the plight of the refugees and UNHCR has more of a public presence. In Jordan, the government is an ally of the U.S. and wants to downplay the plight of the refugees so the UNHCR has to be more low key. Also, in Syria there are more refugees, and poorer refugees, so the need is greater. But with Iraqis in Jordan depleting their savings as time passes, the UNHCR staff obviously feels inadequate to cope with the crisis.

Next Asma took me to visit a women’s self-help group in the home of the group leader Maha Al Muneem. In the U.S. this group works with the Collateral Repair Project, and CODEPINK has hooked up with them to raise funds for their activities. About 15 lovely women greeted me at the door, most dressed in pink in honor of CODEPINK. They knew about our work in the U.S. to try to end the occupation, and were grateful for our actions. I, of course, felt terrible that we have been so unsuccessful, and apologized profusely for the horrible damage our country had done.

Some of the women began sharing their stories. One young woman’s brother had been burned to a crisp by a U.S. shell that hit his car. “We couldn’t even recognize his body,” his sister said, her eyes tearing up. One woman had been the victim of a botched kidnapping, and while she luckily survived, she had been dragged for blocks hanging out of a car and still has trouble walking. Another woman broke down as she recalled how the U.S. soldiers raided her home, traumatizing the family and stealing all their savings and family jewels.

The saddest story was that of Um Marianne, single mother whose husband had been killed. She started crying hysterically about how difficult life in Jordan was, with men preying on her, bosses cheating her because she was working illegally and couldn’t complain. She was despondent that she was unable to provide a decent life for her daughter. Suddenly, all the women were weeping—for their own plight, for the plight of their sisters. It was heart-breaking to witness, knowing that my government was responsible for their suffering.

What the women did have, however, was the camaraderie of each other and a profound social conscience. After spending a few hours with them, I realized that the reason Iraqis are not literally starving is not because there is an effective network of UN and NGOs, but because they all help each other. The wealthy look after the middle class, the middle class look after the poor. There was a large pile of clothing in Maha’s kitchen, for example. The women had gathered old clothes from rich Iraqis by literally going door to door asking for donations. Then these women, most of whom had been middle class back home, carefully washed, folded and bundled the clothing not for themselves, but to take to Iraqis living in really poor conditions. The women did not get any compensation for this work, but did it out of a sense of moral obligation. “It’s our duty to help those who are suffering even more than we are,” they said.

Within this informal collective, the women looked after each other like sisters. “We are all worried about Um Marianne,” they said. She had been working several jobs, often in sweatshop-like conditions, and leaving her daughter home alone. So the women got a donation to buy her a sewing machine so she can work at home.

The women have set up a series of “micro-projects” like this that the U.S. Collateral Repair then tries to fund. One woman got funds to set us a hair salon in her home. Another got a heavy-duty sewing machine to sew leather—she buys old leather jackets and cuts them up to make beautiful wallets. Another woman wanted video camera and good digital camera to make money filming weddings and other celebrations (unfortunately, there is not much to celebrate these days, she admits). They hope to start a bakery project, a home-pickling business, and for some poor men, they plan to buy a machine to clean floor tiles and one to make keys.

Some of the women have formed a craft collective, and brought out their wares—mosaic paintings, ceramic bowls, place mats, dresses, intricately painted jewelry boxes. They make the products in their homes and the collective helps them market their goods.

After spending several houses with the women, and eating a lovely lunch together, we parted sisters, vowing to stay in touch and help each other.

My next stop was the office of Medecins San Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), where I met the Communications Director Valerie Babize. I had met the MSF staff in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, before it became too dangerous to work there—and to visit. After leaving Iraq they set up shop in Amman, renting an entire floor of the Red Crescent Hospital where they have provided reconstructive surgery to over 400 Iraqi civilian victims of violence-—be it from the Americans troops, the Sunni insurgents, the Shia militia or Iraqi army. “We see the most horrible cases,” Valerie told me. “Children whose entire faces have been blown apart and they can barely eat or talk; people who have lost limbs and through poor treatment come in terrible pain with severe bone infections. We perform miracles; they come in wheelchairs and terribly disabled. They leave walking, talking, eating.”

But one of their biggest problems is that since January 2008, the Jordanian government has clamped down on Iraqis trying to enter the country. While the group has a capacity to treat 80 patients at a time, they now have only 20 or 30 patients. “It’s such a shame,” said Valerie. “There are thousands of Iraqis in desperate need of our help, since the hospitals in Iraq are now so terrible and so many of the doctors have left. But now we just say to the patients, if they can get in, we will treat them but they have to figure out a way to get here.”

My next meeting was with Dina, a beautiful 28-year-old Iraqi woman who I had been in touch with over the internet. Dina had written to CODEPINK out of desperation, looking for help to get into the United States. She had worked as an interpreter and program officer for a U.S. AID contractor in Iraq called Research Triangle Institute, or RTI. At first, it was wonderful work, educating Iraqis about women’s rights and democracy after the fall of Saddam Hussein. But the violence in Iraq increased, and it became more and more dangerous to be seen as a U.S. collaborator.

In August 2007, she got a terrifying phone call from saying “We know you work with the Americans. We know how to reach you and your family. We will kill you and your American friends won’t be able to do anything to help you.” Having seen many of her colleagues meet a gruesome end, she quickly packed up and fled to Jordan. The rest of her family—a sister and elderly parents—following soon after. Dina thought the Americans would help her get a job in Jordan or get into the United States, but she found herself abandoned with no income and no support. In the email we received from her she said, “The Americans say they want to help the Iraqi people. They talk about human rights, women’s rights. But how can they help the Iraqi people if they can’t even help the staff who worked with them under dangerous circumstances? Are we slaves to be discarded when our lives are in danger? They don’t know the risks or feel our suffering because they hide in the secured area of the Green Zone. I can’t go back home because I will get killed or raped for my association with Americans. I can’t stay in Jordan because I am not allowed to work and have no money. Please, I need your advice because I am depressed and don’t know what to do.”

Dina came to meet me with her mother, a frail woman whose face revealed her severe anxiety of leaving everything familiar to come live in a strange land. A Christian woman married to a Shia man, she was at first happy to see Saddam overthrown, until life post-Saddam became hell. Now the family is totally dependent on their young daughter for their survival.

We talked about Dina’s prospects for getting into the United States. She already had one interview to establish that she indeed worked for a U.S. company. Now she will have another interview to convince the Americans that her life was in danger in Iraq. It is a grueling and long process, but I promised to do what I could in the US end to help her.

“When I wrote to CODEPINK I never thought I’d get a response much less meet you,” Dina said tearfully as we parted. “I hope our next meeting is in the United States.”

I spent the evening at Asma’s apartment, as she insisted I stay with her instead of in a hotel. It was spacious apartment in a nice, quiet neighborhood, but it was sparsely furnished. “I am furnishing this apartment little by little, as my funds allow,” Asma explained. “How ironic that I used to run a business in Baghdad that made beautiful furniture and now I can’t afford to furnish my own apartment.” “Bush would like us all to be beggars but we are proud people,” she added. “I predict that the Americans will be forced to leave in about two years, and we will get our country back. Inshallah--God willing.”

Trip to Jordan and Syria to Research Plight of Iraqi Refugees

By Medea Benjamin

Day One/ April 29, Amman, Jordan
It was an amazingly full first day in Jordan. Asma Al-Haidari, a brilliant Iraqi woman who lives in Amman and works with political as well as humanitarian groups, picked me up at 8am from the Toledo Hotel. Our first stop was the office of UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees), where a group of about 40 Iraqis was waiting on line to register with the agency or ask for some type of assistance. We started talking to the people on line. One woman, who was completely covered in a black abaya except for her eyes, had a disabled son she was trying to get medical help for. Another woman had a child with a tumor who needed an operation. All had fled the violence in Iraq and were living in Jordan without funds and in legal limbo.

A group of men gathered around us and started talking all at once.

“Please help me. I need to get out of Jordan.”

“We’re not allowed to work here; how are we supposed to support our families? We have used up all our savings.”

“If we go back to Iraq we’ll be killed. Can’t you help me get to the United States?”

I asked the men what they did back home. One was in the army. Another was a sports trainer. Another an engineer. All were used to working hard and taking care of their families. Having fled the terror in Iraq, they were now living hand to mouth without jobs, without a future and feeling desperate. I felt terrible that I wasn’t able to do anything for them.

We went inside to talk to the staff at UNHCR, including Anna-Maria Deutschlander, a “Senior Protection Officer” in charge of helping Iraqis to be resettled in other countries. She talked to us about the long, difficult process of resettlement and how few countries wanted to take in the Iraqis. “The Swedes were originally very generous, but now they are clamping down. Most European countries feel the U.S. is responsible and should take the lead, but the U.S. has a goal this year of only 12,000—a drop in the bucket—and I doubt they’ll even take that many,” Anna-Marie told us.

We also talked to one of the program officers who deals with the food and cash assistance programs. I was shocked to hear that the UNHCR only distributed cash assistance to a tiny percentage of the refugees, just 1,800, and food assistance to only 3,550, which they distribute through a group called the Jordanian Alliance Against Hunger. Moreover, only 53,000 of the estimated 500,000 refugees in Jordan have even registered with the UNHCR.

I asked why so few were registered. Some Iraqis, they said, are afraid to register because they are in Jordan illegally, and they think it is better to lay low. They also see little benefit to registering, as there are few services and people don’t have to be registered to get them. Whatever the case, the UN outreach and support seems to be surprisingly limited. “If we had more staff and more funds, we could of course do much more,” said Anna-Marie. “But our present budget is just until June and we have no idea what we’ll have to work with in the future, so it’s very hard to plan.”

In a diplomatic way, the staff also conveyed their frustration with the politics that infuses the refugee situation. In Syria, where the government is at odds with the U.S., the government is more open about the plight of the refugees and UNHCR has more of a public presence. In Jordan, the government is an ally of the U.S. and wants to downplay the plight of the refugees so the UNHCR has to be more low key. Also, in Syria there are more refugees, and poorer refugees, so the need is greater. But with Iraqis in Jordan depleting their savings as time passes, the UNHCR staff obviously feels inadequate to cope with the crisis.

Next Asma took me to visit a women’s self-help group in the home of the group leader Maha Al Muneem. In the U.S. this group works with the Collateral Repair Project, and CODEPINK has hooked up with them to raise funds for their activities. About 15 lovely women greeted me at the door, most dressed in pink in honor of CODEPINK. They knew about our work in the U.S. to try to end the occupation, and were grateful for our actions. I, of course, felt terrible that we have been so unsuccessful, and apologized profusely for the horrible damage our country had done.

Some of the women began sharing their stories. One young woman’s brother had been burned to a crisp by a U.S. shell that hit his car. “We couldn’t even recognize his body,” his sister said, her eyes tearing up. One woman had been the victim of a botched kidnapping, and while she luckily survived, she had been dragged for blocks hanging out of a car and still has trouble walking. Another woman broke down as she recalled how the U.S. soldiers raided her home, traumatizing the family and stealing all their savings and family jewels.

The saddest story was that of Um Marianne, single mother whose husband had been killed. She started crying hysterically about how difficult life in Jordan was, with men preying on her, bosses cheating her because she was working illegally and couldn’t complain. She was despondent that she was unable to provide a decent life for her daughter. Suddenly, all the women were weeping—for their own plight, for the plight of their sisters. It was heart-breaking to witness, knowing that my government was responsible for their suffering.

What the women did have, however, was the camaraderie of each other and a profound social conscience. After spending a few hours with them, I realized that the reason Iraqis are not literally starving is not because there is an effective network of UN and NGOs, but because they all help each other. The wealthy look after the middle class, the middle class look after the poor. There was a large pile of clothing in Maha’s kitchen, for example. The women had gathered old clothes from rich Iraqis by literally going door to door asking for donations. Then these women, most of whom had been middle class back home, carefully washed, folded and bundled the clothing not for themselves, but to take to Iraqis living in really poor conditions. The women did not get any compensation for this work, but did it out of a sense of moral obligation. “It’s our duty to help those who are suffering even more than we are,” they said.

Within this informal collective, the women looked after each other like sisters. “We are all worried about Um Marianne,” they said. She had been working several jobs, often in sweatshop-like conditions, and leaving her daughter home alone. So the women got a donation to buy her a sewing machine so she can work at home.

The women have set up a series of “micro-projects” like this that the U.S. Collateral Repair then tries to fund. One woman got funds to set us a hair salon in her home. Another got a heavy-duty sewing machine to sew leather—she buys old leather jackets and cuts them up to make beautiful wallets. Another woman wanted video camera and good digital camera to make money filming weddings and other celebrations (unfortunately, there is not much to celebrate these days, she admits). They hope to start a bakery project, a home-pickling business, and for some poor men, they plan to buy a machine to clean floor tiles and one to make keys.

Some of the women have formed a craft collective, and brought out their wares—mosaic paintings, ceramic bowls, place mats, dresses, intricately painted jewelry boxes. They make the products in their homes and the collective helps them market their goods.

After spending several houses with the women, and eating a lovely lunch together, we parted sisters, vowing to stay in touch and help each other.

My next stop was the office of Medecins San Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), where I met the Communications Director Valerie Babize. I had met the MSF staff in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, before it became too dangerous to work there—and to visit. After leaving Iraq they set up shop in Amman, renting an entire floor of the Red Crescent Hospital where they have provided reconstructive surgery to over 400 Iraqi civilian victims of violence-—be it from the Americans troops, the Sunni insurgents, the Shia militia or Iraqi army. “We see the most horrible cases,” Valerie told me. “Children whose entire faces have been blown apart and they can barely eat or talk; people who have lost limbs and through poor treatment come in terrible pain with severe bone infections. We perform miracles; they come in wheelchairs and terribly disabled. They leave walking, talking, eating.”

But one of their biggest problems is that since January 2008, the Jordanian government has clamped down on Iraqis trying to enter the country. While the group has a capacity to treat 80 patients at a time, they now have only 20 or 30 patients. “It’s such a shame,” said Valerie. “There are thousands of Iraqis in desperate need of our help, since the hospitals in Iraq are now so terrible and so many of the doctors have left. But now we just say to the patients, if they can get in, we will treat them but they have to figure out a way to get here.”

My next meeting was with Dina, a beautiful 28-year-old Iraqi woman who I had been in touch with over the internet. Dina had written to CODEPINK out of desperation, looking for help to get into the United States. She had worked as an interpreter and program officer for a U.S. AID contractor in Iraq called Research Triangle Institute, or RTI. At first, it was wonderful work, educating Iraqis about women’s rights and democracy after the fall of Saddam Hussein. But the violence in Iraq increased, and it became more and more dangerous to be seen as a U.S. collaborator.

In August 2007, she got a terrifying phone call from saying “We know you work with the Americans. We know how to reach you and your family. We will kill you and your American friends won’t be able to do anything to help you.” Having seen many of her colleagues meet a gruesome end, she quickly packed up and fled to Jordan. The rest of her family—a sister and elderly parents—following soon after. Dina thought the Americans would help her get a job in Jordan or get into the United States, but she found herself abandoned with no income and no support. In the email we received from her she said, “The Americans say they want to help the Iraqi people. They talk about human rights, women’s rights. But how can they help the Iraqi people if they can’t even help the staff who worked with them under dangerous circumstances? Are we slaves to be discarded when our lives are in danger? They don’t know the risks or feel our suffering because they hide in the secured area of the Green Zone. I can’t go back home because I will get killed or raped for my association with Americans. I can’t stay in Jordan because I am not allowed to work and have no money. Please, I need your advice because I am depressed and don’t know what to do.”

Dina came to meet me with her mother, a frail woman whose face revealed her severe anxiety of leaving everything familiar to come live in a strange land. A Christian woman married to a Shia man, she was at first happy to see Saddam overthrown, until life post-Saddam became hell. Now the family is totally dependent on their young daughter for their survival.

We talked about Dina’s prospects for getting into the United States. She already had one interview to establish that she indeed worked for a U.S. company. Now she will have another interview to convince the Americans that her life was in danger in Iraq. It is a grueling and long process, but I promised to do what I could in the US end to help her.

“When I wrote to CODEPINK I never thought I’d get a response much less meet you,” Dina said tearfully as we parted. “I hope our next meeting is in the United States.”

I spent the evening at Asma’s apartment, as she insisted I stay with her instead of in a hotel. It was spacious apartment in a nice, quiet neighborhood, but it was sparsely furnished. “I am furnishing this apartment little by little, as my funds allow,” Asma explained. “How ironic that I used to run a business in Baghdad that made beautiful furniture and now I can’t afford to furnish my own apartment.” “Bush would like us all to be beggars but we are proud people,” she added. “I predict that the Americans will be forced to leave in about two years, and we will get our country back. Inshallah--God willing.”

04.30.08 Out of Iraq Jim DeMint


Last day of April 5 years of flawed foreign policy with no exit strategy
NO END IN SIGHT!
Our Duty is Keeping the message out there We are the Majority of Us citizens that say constantly unrelentingly
We want Our Troops Out of Iraq Now Safely
While the democrats fight over flag pins and make eachother look weak
The Peace Community must stay vigilant with the Bring our Trrops HOme Now Message &
start protecting Us right here at home!!!

Monday, April 28, 2008

04.28.08 Truckers Speak Out RE High Diesel Prices









There was a March Rally Press Conference and Lobby effort organized by 4 long time Interstate Truck Drivers that feel outraged over the Price of Diesel, Heating Oil, and gasoline! This has been an ongoing issue that hasn't improved that is the impetus to bring the voices of truckers their families and people that could take part as solidairty to DC- right to the doorsteps of an Impotent Congress. A Congress that has made the US weaker with our continued weak energy policy and continued dependence on fossil fuels and made no significant inroads toward solutions.
CODEPINK Women For Peace dispatched the PINK Police force to escort the truckers to the Capitol for a lobbyng day after the march from RFK stadium.
What a beautiful feeling to see hundreds of working class people take to the streets /roads and stand up for the livelihod of all Americans that rely so immensely on truckers for our own prosperity in ways.When the truckers stop everything stops!!
www.theamericandriver.com

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Gandhi Peace Brigade/ Clinton Clings to "Precious"

Dear Friends,

Hillary Clinton said on Good Morning America, "I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran ... In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them."

WATCH: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4700614 READ: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Vote2008/story?id=4698059

Hillary Clinton has not only launched a verbal attack against a country populated with people who love Americans, she has also initiated a pre-emptive strike against Barack Obama. Democrats fear he will now be forced to ratchet up his rhetoric regarding Iran or risk appearing weak in the eyes of the electorate.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a “limited” nuclear attack on the main Iranian underground site in Esfahan, "the most beautiful city in Iran", would result in three million deaths by radiation within two weeks and the exposure of 35 million people to dangerous levels of radiation in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

Photos we took in Esfahan as part of our Global Exchange Citizen Diplomacy Delegation: http://flickr.com/photos/codepinkalert/sets/72157604766477975/show/

Obliterate Them! (gives a literary and historical perspective with quotes from Kurt Vonnegut and others) http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/26/8539/

The United States was the first country to develop nuclear weapons, and the only nation to use them to "obliterate" hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. Much like the Japanese population, Iranians can only hold their leaders accountable through elections. If the United States attacks Iran, the people of Iran will rally behind Ahmadinejad. If the United States doesn't attack, Iranians will probably elect someone more moderate in their upcoming election in March, 2009. The majority of Iranians are as unhappy with Ahmadinejad as we are with Bush. Both of our leaders would benefit from a war ... the people, of course, would not.

Iran has not initiated an attack on another country in over 200 years. A recent National Intelligence Estimate, representing a consensus view of 16 U.S. spy agencies, says Iran halted its nuclear weapons development program in the fall of 2003 due to international pressure and would not be capable of developing a nuclear weapon until sometime between 2010 and 2015: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16846056.

Clinton's remark was not a thoughtless slip of the tongue. She voted to authorize the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq, a country that posed no imminent threat to the United States, possessed no weapons of mass destruction, and had nothing to do with the 9-11 attacks. She voted in favor of the Kyl-Lieberman measure designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Terrorist Organization. She also voted against a Feinstein-Leahy amendment banning the sale of cluster bombs for use in heavily populated civilian areas. The majority of the victims of unexploded cluster munitions are children. http://www.cmep.org/Alerts/2006Sept7.htm

An Iranian-American friend has said," [Clinton's] remarks have shocked and saddened Iranians, particularly women among whom she used to be admired. I bought the Persian translation of Mrs. Clinton's autobiography about a year and a half ago. Within the first year of its publication in Iran, 40,000 Iranians read it." It is now in it's 4th edition.

Laura Santina says,"I can’t support Hillary because I don’t know who she is and I don’t think she does either. I followed a trail of clues in search of Hillary Rodham Clinton and found myself at the feet of a political party hack whose core values are — and have been for a long time — a liquid gas poised to morph into anybody or anything it takes to win." http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/24/8501/

Hillary Clinton reminds me of Gollum, a character in "The Lord of the Rings". Gollum strangles his best friend Deagol to acquire the ring, his "Precious". Is Hillary willing to strangle the Democratic party to satisfy her quest for power? Hopefully she will resist the temptation of the ring and morph into Galadriel, the Queen of the Elves, before it's too late.

Peace and Freedom,

Jes & Leslie

U.S. Weighing Readiness for Military Action Against Iran
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/25/AR2008042501480.html
Petraeus Promotion Frees Cheney to Threaten Iran
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/24/8492/




Jes & Leslie ... A Journey for Peace and Freedom: http://www.jfpf.org/

Impeachment Picnic











The last sunday of each month activists will gather across the street from Washington Monument to Spread the Impeachment Message at our Picnic!!!
Join Us every 4th sunday 3pm
www.afterdowningstreet.org

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Gandhi Peace Brigade/ Petraeus to Replace Fallon

Breaking News: Defense Secretary Gates has nominated General Petraeus to replace Admiral Fallon as the U.S. Centcom Commander: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080423/pl_nm/usa_military_centcom_dc
The biggest difference between the two: Fallon has publicly stated his oppostion to a war with Iran; Petraeus is the administration's hit man.

Dear Friends,

Leslie and I don't normally send out two newsletters in one week, but we thought you might want to know about the Bay Area events below.

Also, please check out this very pertinent YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eWyGqQOx48&feature=PlayList&p=A508481883E5B541&index=0&playnext=1

A TOWN HALL MEETING on IMPEACHMENT!
Thursday, April 24, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland, featuring:

David Swanson http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/
Daniel Ellsberg http://www.ellsberg.net/
Cindy Sheehan http://www.cindyforcongress.com/
Medea Benjamin http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=51
Debra Sweet http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0925-27.htm
Norman Solomon http://www.normansolomon.com/
Shirley Golub http://www.shirley08.com/bio.php
Max Anderson http://www.cityofberkeley.info/council3/default.htm?portalid=4
Shahid Buttar http://www.shahidbuttar.com/
"Are Peace and Impeachment Possible?" http://www.davidswanson.org/

BEACH IMPEACH 5 is this Saturday, April 26, Ocean Beach in San Francisco, 10:00 a.m. sign-up.
http://www.shirley08.com/beach_impeach_5.php

IRAN (is not the problem)
World Premiere Showing
Sunday, April 27, 2:00 at the Victorian Theatre in San Francisco
www.iranisnottheproblem.org
Town Hall meeting with Cindy Sheehan and others after the show

A few articles worth reading:

Impeachment by the People by Howard Zinn
http://www.progressive.org/mag_zinnl0207

Hands Off Iran by Chris Hedges
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071210/hedges

Ritter Says White House Preparing for War in Iran
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=8350

A Petition supporting former President Carter and his talks with Hamas.
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1439/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1174

Thousands of California residents are being sprayed with potentially harmful and partially undisclosed chemicals.
"Long-term studies on the active ingredients have not been done, however, no adverse effects are expected."
Please sign the petition: StopTheSpray.org

We'll be seeing you in California sometime this spring. Hopefully we won't have to wear gas masks.
Peace and Freedom,
Jes & Leslie

Jes & Leslie ... A Journey for Peace and Freedom: http://www.jfpf.org/

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

4.22.8Korean Delegation Visits CODEPINK HOUSE




CODEPINKDC spent some time giving a
State Dept Delegation of Korean Human Rights friends a tour of the CODEPINK house on Earth Day April 22,2008.Gael Murphy, Desiree, Leslie,Jes, Liz and Rev Cox had quality time asking questions with the much appreciated help of 2 translators!

Monday, April 21, 2008

War is NOT Green April 20.08 Earth Day DC






CODEPINKERS celebrated Earth Day April 20.2008 activities on the National Mall by serving FreeLemonade passing out fliers educating new friends on the direct connection War & Global Climate change .....Each person can make a huge difference!
We asked folks to ride a bike, buy locally,consume less,stop buying bottled water Save the TAP,recycle,reuse more often,promote Green Jobs over this growing WAR ECONOMY,become active in city state county local issues that will build community!
We have but one EARTH we Must all do more to protect the natural wonders
OUR Military is the largest consumer of OIL. Peace is better for the Earth Promote Peace/Green Jobs

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Gandhi Peace Brigade/ Congress Speaks Out on War with Iran

Dear Friends,

House Representatives Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee, Sheila Jackson Lee and Keith Ellison of the Out of Iraq Caucus address the Bush administration's possible plans to attack Iran with a "Special Order Speech" on April 15:
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/ca35_waters/FS080415_iran.html


This is a portion of what Representative Maxine Waters had to say:
Could the Bush administration possibly be planning for a war with Iran? The inflammatory rhetoric toward Iran is building in a similar fashion to the run-up to the Iraq war. Strong statements about Iran's intervention in Iraq could set the stage for a U.S. attack on an Iranian military or nuclear facility. Surrogates in the administration have increasingly stressed a full range of negative Iranian behavior, including that Iran is killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq, supplying weapons, training and funding special groups.

General Petraeus claims the so-called "special groups'' which are funded, trained and armed by Iran, played a "destructive role'' in the recent clashes between extremist militias and Iraqi government forces in Basra and Baghdad: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aXD9fCxRQ2.c&refer=home U.S. Ambassador Crocker says Iran is engaging in a proxy war with the United States in Iraq, adopting tactics similar to those it has used to back fighters in Lebanon: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/12/world/middleeast/12policy.html?_r=1&oref=sloginWhile

Israel's security Cabinet decided to redistribute gas masks to the entire population amid fears of a non-conventional war with Iran. The last distribution was just before the U.S. invasion of Iraq 4 years ago. http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-04-02-voa27.cfm A further sign that the U.S. may be headed for war is Admiral Fallon's resignation. His "retirement" may be a direct result of his steadfast opposition to a war with Iran: http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/4255

Another sign is the [current] offensive against the Mahdi Army. Moqtada al Sadr has promised full-scale attacks on America's interests in Iraq in the event of strikes on Iran. As commander of the multinational force in Iraq, Petraeus still presides as the commander of the Iraqi security forces and any operation against the Mahdi Army would have been authorized by him. What motivation did the United States have in fueling a violent confrontation with the powerful militia at a time when al Sadr had declared a truce and the progress of the surge was being reported to Congress? One explanation is that recent operations against al Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army, may have been meant to neutralize possible resistance inside Iraq in the event of a strike on Iran.

Here is the U.S. News and World Report, "Six Signs the U.S. May Be Headed For War in Iran": http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/13/7676/
1. Two U.S. warships are positioned off Lebanon to keep Iranian ally Syria in check and to help provide air cover for Israel against Iranian missile reprisals.
2. Vice President Cheney's Middle East trip included Oman, located on the narrow Strait of Hormuz, the vulnerable shipping lane for oil in the Persian Gulf. Cheney also visited Saudi Arabia. This country's support would be vital if Iran's oil supply were to be cut off.
3. Israel's air strike on Syria last October reportedly targeted a nuclear-related facility, but the real purpose may have been to force Syria to switch on the targeted electronics for newly received Russian anti-aircraft defenses. The location of the strike was on a flight path to Iran; knowing the electronic signatures of the defensive system would be necessary to reduce the risk for warplanes heading to Iran.
4. President Shimon Peres said earlier this month that Israel will not consider unilateral action to stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb. In the past, Israeli officials have quite consistently said that they are prepared to act alone if that becomes necessary to ensure that Iran does not cross a nuclear weapons threshold. Did President Bush give the Israelis assurances they won't have to act alone?
5. Israel's 2006 war in Lebanon against Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces was seen as a necessary step for Israel if it anticipated a clash with Iran. The radical Shiite group is seen not only as a threat on its own, but also as a possible Iranian surrogate force in the event of war with Iran. So it was important for Israel to push Hezbollah forces back from their positions on Lebanon's border.
6. When Iran's intentions to build nuclear weapons were dismissed by the recent National Intelligence Estimate report, the administration criticized the report.

There is reason to be concerned about the administration's saber-rattling towards Iran. Another encounter like the one in January between the U.S. Navy and an Iranian speedboat could be used as an excuse for retaliation similar to the Gulf of Tonkin incident that began the Vietnam War. The White House would simply claim that we were ``provoked'' and we were defending ourselves.

Middle East experts generally agree that Iran would respond to a U.S. strike by attacking U.S. and Israeli interests throughout the region and possibly globally. We are sending a message to the President and Vice President of the United States of America. The American people do not want us to continue this war in Iraq or [start a new one] in Iran. [House Representatives Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee, Sheila Jackson Lee and Keith Ellison] are sounding the alarm.

Peace and Freedom,
Jes & Leslie

A Ballet You Will Not Forget!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnLVRQCjh8c

Jes & Leslie ... A Journey for Peace and Freedom: http://www.jfpf.org/

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Unity through Diversity Respect everyone

On Saturday April 19th, as neo-Nazis converged on the Capitol, we went to the west lawn with our message of UNITY Through DIVERSITY!










CODEPINKERS prompted FREE hugs at the Capitol as the Nazi rally made it's way marching from the Washington Monument .... toward the west lawn
We Shouted Arms are Made for HUGGING
Free Hugs Free Hugs for all
......throwing peaceful kisses into the air ...........
LOVE will Prevail
we must appreciate our differences & teach tolerance

04.18.08 State Dept Friday's memo #1 Condi Resign cc:cia

CODEPINK invites everyone to join us in protesting the State Department in Washington DC every Friday at 2pm until Condoleezza Rice resigns as Secretary of State. Meet at the Einstein statue near Constitution and 22nd street NW





CondiMustGo.com
Please call the State Dept Miss Condi Must GO!





Friday, April 18, 2008

National Catholic Prayer Breakfast






CODEPINK DC learned that some catholics value pro-life & think 5 Years in Iraq(Killing) occupying Iraq is undermining our military strength & making us less secure at home!Our Message Pray for George & Mccain!
Today the National Cathoilc Prayer Breakfast featuring the War Mongers W Bush & McBush Mccain was held at the Hilton on Ct.Ave and not very well attended.In fact there were more peaceful protestors then ticket holding Catholics~

www.therealmccain.com