peace

What really separates Obama and Clinton....Vote to Enable Peace....

In which we begin an assessment of the problem of Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


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Today Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shrugged off U.S. doubts of his government's military and political progress on Saturday, saying Iraqi forces are capable and American troops can leave "any time they want." The Gulf between Iraq’s Government and its American steering committee, headed by President G.W. Bush, is widening. The death and the chaos is having its effect on the occupied, as well as on the occupiers. The U.S. patience with the Iraqi government’s slow progress or lack of any progress at all, has grown thin and the Iraqi patience with the occupying American and British forces has seemingly come to an end as well.

"War is Hell", said Sherman, who knew it well.

Gold Star Families for Peace Activist Cindy Sheehan to speak in Greensboro on April 21st.

She will be appearing at a rally at Governmental Center in Greensboro, NC The rally will begin at 12 noon.

Cindy Sheehan is an internationally known mom and peace & social justice advocate whose son, Army Specialist Casey A. Sheehan, was killed in action in Sadr City, Baghdad, on April 4, 2004. As an act of protest against the war, in August 2005 Cindy took a stand outside of George Bush's home in Crawford, Texas, asking what noble cause her son died for. She is also a central leader in the movement to impeach President George W. Bush.
http://ncwcw.blogspot.com for more info

Peace advocates meeting on the National Mall this Saturday will be met by counter-demonstrators organized by two North Carolina men. Larry Bailey of Vets for Truth and BootMurtha.com and Ted Sampley of US Veteran Dispatch and multiple dubious pseudo-political ventures and, Rolling Thunder Motor Cycle Rally.

Ted Sampley of Kinston, the P.T. Barnum of Swiftboating, has created a bogus story that protesters will deface the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. It has spun from Sampley's website with an "Eagles" message board into an organized counter-offensive called "Gathering of Eagles". Many have bought into the BS, and message boards hint at physical conflict. Some suggest developing "limps" to justify canes as potential weapons. There is a way to fight back - peacefully. Read on and please take action before midnight Friday.

America Can Stand Down in Iraq and Win
January 31, 2007
By Marshall Adame

In a recent water cooler discussion about Iraq, I suggested that America needs to remove the primary combat forces from Iraq and concentrate on training, government capacity building and providing logistical support and material capacity to the Iraqi Provincial Governments and certain commercial enterprises which contribute to the nations commerce and infrastructure i.e., railroads, airports, ports, electricity, etc.

The provincial governments in Iraq, however married to tribal and religious traditions, are the real governments in Iraq. The central government in Baghdad is paralyzed by sectarian bickering, graft, corruption, absence of its elected members (many have left the country), infighting and strife. The welfare of the country, as a whole, is far removed from any real debates occurring at the central government level. My suggestion, that we could remove our troops, was met by what seems the standard reply to remarks like the ones I had just made. “Man, do you have any idea how much blood will be spilled if we pulled out our combat troops?” A legitimate question from anyone who does not understand the Arab mindset. My answer being “Not as much blood as is being spilled today”.

US Military Controls Diplomacy In Iraq As US State Department Stands On The Sidelines

January 18, 2007
By Marshall Adame

Go to just about any significant meeting between Iraqi Government and US government officials in Iraq and you will quickly understand who is running the Diplomatic efforts in Iraq. The US Military.

Ask any Iraqi government official in Baghdad, or in any of the 18 provinces, who they are primarily counseling and meeting with regarding civil development and governance capacity building and they will, in almost all cases, reply “the US Army”.

US Diplomats have, in effect, relinquished their Diplomatic “front seat” in Iraq to the US Military who, although well intentioned, come to the table with little or no idea of what is “diplomatically” required of those engaged in efforts geared to joint solutions, resolutions, plans and cooperative efforts which benefit all parties in substantive and acceptable operational environments. Diplomacy, in dealing with the Iraqis, is far removed from the Army mindset, as it should be. In the mind of an Army officer, the needs of the Army are paramount to any objective or requirement. Other, non-Army, priorities, requirements, objectives or desires come a very distant second in any action or negotiation. Diplomacy is not the forte of the US Military. Fighting wars is. Diplomacy is far removed from the dynamics and tactics of fighting a ground war. There is however a requirement for the execution of Diplomatic efforts and programs and administration in a War. That is why we have the US Department of State.