Posted by Editors on May 30, 2008 at 14:15:11:
Request….
After reading The War IMMEMORIAL Day REPORT message which follows this introduction, WE ask YOU give pause to consider HOW we can avoid, prevent ourselves, and our next generations, from going through it all over again..., the wars, the U.S. military protecting corporate investments throughout the world, most recently in Iraq..
What is going on today will continue for many countless years. This is not the "FUTURE" we have dreamed for our kids and theirs. But unless WE begin to do something sensible about it now..., it will surely be repeated over and over.., as it has been for the last 100 years..., regardless of who sits in the White House.
Certainly we know the "TALK" that "Congress REPRESENTS the People,” but we have come to learn it is only "TALK." True, Congress represents people, "CERTAIN" people, like those who own and run the big businesses, the major corporations, the GMs, GEs, the (Cheney) Halliburtons, and that ilk
Today, We all know the Iraq INVASION was based on lies..., and now the invasion has settled into an OCCUPATION of Iraq, which everyday kills our kid soldiers, an OCCUPATION which politicians say will require American military there for MANY years., which means our today’s 10 year old kids are destined to carry rifles and grenades on the war torn streets of Iraq when they reach their late teens.
Why must the U.S. military remain in Iraq?
Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve was the first, and ONLY public official, to declare, openly and publicly, that IRAQ was invaded, not to bring democracy, but for its OIL, the result of corporate pressures on the politicians who occupy the Congress and the Presidency.
No rational person wants wars to go on for this and the next generations, but the undemocratic institutions (systems) we use today isolate We, the People, from having any effective voice and vote to prevent it. The economic system make the rules for the Big Business Corporations, and for the political government heedss the rules of Capitalism's "FRee Market" rules which give corporations license to do whatever brings in the greates profits, regardless of the societal consequences.
Only when WE change the rules of our economy to use our needed public institutions to serve US, We, the people will no longer be forced to cater to the profits needs of the private governments which run the corporations.
To stop the present domestic and global madness which has imperiled our society, as well as all other global neighbors, We, the People,, have no choice but to cast away, legally and peacefully, all the present politics generated by this despoiled two party political system .
With this week's ( 5-25-08) Congressional $$ approval of the Iraq invasion and occupation along with government's total agreement with the rules of the "Free Market, which allows for the current,staggering high price of our needed gasoline..., as well as the government's permissiveness for allowing unsafe and dangerous imports to be placed on our store shelves, by import corporations it has become abundantly clear WHY millions of citizens are disgusted and turned off by the parade of politicians who promise everything, but produce little or nothing to make our society safe and better.
So, what is OUR alternative? Here is one NON solution... Millions of working people have refused to vote in general elections. oter turnout has declined over the years, but that's NO answer to our growing social, economic and government problems!
When we stop using the ballot to express OUR needs and wants, We give away the ONLY powers We have to better OUR conditions. We may justify not voting because "There's no program, and no candidate worth voting for. They're all the same." That's true TODAY.
But it doesn't follow for tommorrow. There CAN be programs,and candidates on the ballot for us to choose to call for democracy in our institutions. WE have the ballot power to place them there! How?
Organize! Organize! Organize!
!
We can Organize ourselves to advocate DEMOCRACY in our needed social institutions. We can Organize ourselves along lines which are clearly stated in the PFANS program! How to begin?
Talk! Talk! Talk!
Let’s not be reluctant to criticize the current corporate system! Most folks we talk with…, in stores…, in other public places..., at gas stations, in our immediate neighborhood, , ARE aware, and they quick to agree that WE do not have a voice or vote in matters that affect our lives both in government and in the places where we work. That's a start!
From there, we can introduce others to the PFANS program.
We can call for meetings in our local public library to discuss ways and means to get organized.
We can remind folks that others throughout our land are aware of the absence of democracy where it counts for We, the People.
We can use the PFANS site to share our experiences with others...
Let's work out the best ways to BUILD OURSELVES INTO A VIABLE POLITICAL FORCE. It's the only way we will get out from under this perennial chaos which has victimized generation after generation. Once organized, We can turn things around to have the peace and prosperity we all want.
Nobody wants to keep on with this charade of living in a DEMOCRACY but having NO real, genuine voice and vote in all the matters which determine our lives..., matters like WAR, Peace. IWE can build a real People's Party..., call it whatever..., a DEMOCRACY PARTY, a We, the PEOPLE PARTY a ...???
Because all the Presidential candidates have strong $$ ties and obligations to their corporate backers, they do not challenge the present institutions with programs which may diminish corporate profits.., nor will the politicians condemn the "Free Market" system's justification for the unmanageable high prices for foods and OUR many other daily necessities.
We know the majority of our people who work for wages are not the ones who are financing the Presidential
candidates of both major parties.
Clinton, Obama, and McCain do not depend on us for their necessary $$$ millions to broadcast their expensive campaigns. The corporate powwers and individual capitalists are the paying pipers, and the candidates pay them back in all sorts of favorable legislation..., like, for example..., easy rules for imports with little inspection as to their health and safety features.., or as we have witnessed, the allowance of illegal immigrations from Mexico and parts South, for the low cost immigrant laborwhich the corporations which favor. We know they have not raised the tens of millions of $$$ from the nickel and dime contributors like ourselves.
As an example, yesterday,(May 28) McCain and Bush gave a "private" party for corporate and private million $$ contributors ... All contributors' names were kept secret, which is the way our “Leaders" want it.
And it was reported that in addition to the
$$$ millions Mrs. Clinton has spent in the primary campaign, much of it came from HER own pockets, whose husband, Bill, easily lines with monies he "earns" by making speeches to corporate CEOs . Clinton, who was a moderately paid Arkansas Governor prior to becoming President. today, is a millionaire many times over. How? He addresses CEOs about how best to use the political system to further corporate profits..., speeches for which he is paid over $75,000.00 per..., [Bill Clinton earned $31 million in speaking fees between 2001 and 2005. His paid speeches included $150,000 appearances before landlord groups, biotechnology firms and food distributors, as well as speeches in England, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. On one particularly good day in Canada, Clinton made $475,000 for two speeches, more than double his annual salary as president] plus whatever "private" monies he accrues from private, "well advised," investments in many industries whose CEOs he knows personally.
And hear this! When President Bush, the corporate President whose administration is responsible for the thousands of American and Iraqi lives lost in this war for oil…., was asked what he will do when he is no longer President, he smiled and replied, " I'll do what Clinton does. That's not hard to take."
*****
What follows is the IMMEMORIAL Day Report which can only stir and move us in a better direction.
Note…, a MEMORIAL is a recognition and celebration of an event or a person while an IMMEMORIAL refers to something easily forgotten…, or beyond memory. The author of the report, Bill Quigley, purposely used the term, “Immemorial” to remind us NOT to forget the horrors of war and the DEAD friends, relatives and family members who whose lives were ended prematurely due to the actions of our public political and the private corporate governments.
Forwarded Message:
Su War Immemorial Day
Date: 5/28/2008 5:35:43 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
From: paulrifkin@comcast.net
To: ALL of US
Sent from the Internet (Details)
War Immemorial Day
Tuesday 27 May 2008
by: Bill Quigley, t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Memorial Day is not actually a day to pray for US troops who died in action, but rather a day set aside by Congress to pray for peace. The 1950 Joint Resolution of Congress, which created Memorial Day, says, "Requesting the President to issue a proclamation designating May 30, Memorial Day, as a day for a Nation-wide prayer for peace." (64 Stat.158).
Peace today is a nearly impossible challenge for the United States. The US is far and away the most militarized country in the world and the most aggressive. Unless the US dramatically reduces its emphasis on global military action, there will be many, many more families grieving on future Memorial Days.
The US spends over $600 billion annually on our military, more than the rest of the world combined. China, our nearest competitor, spends about one-tenth of what we spend. The US also sells more weapons to other countries than any other nation in the world.
The US has about 700 military bases in 130 countries worldwide, and another 6,000 bases in the US and our territories, according to Chalmers Johnson in his excellent book, "Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic" (2007).
The Department of Defense (DOD) reports nearly 1.4 million active duty military personnel today. Over a quarter of a million are in other countries from Iraq and Afghanistan to Europe, North Africa, South Asia and the rest of the Western Hemisphere. The DOD also employs more than 700,000 civilian employees.
The US has used its armed forces abroad over 230 times, according to researchers at the Department of the Navy Historical Center. Their publications list over 60 military efforts outside the US since World War II.
While the focus of most of the Memorial Day activities will be on US military dead, no effort is made to try to identify or remember the military or civilians of other countries, who have died in the same actions. For example, the US government reports 432 US military dead in Afghanistan and surrounding areas, but has refused to disclose civilian casualties. "We don't do body counts," General Tommy Franks said.
Most people know of the deaths in World War I - 116,000 US soldiers killed. But how many in the US know that over eight million soldiers from other countries, and perhaps another eight million civilians also died during World War II?
By World War II, about 408,000 US soldiers were killed. Worldwide, at least another 20 million soldiers and civilians died.
The US is not only the largest and most expensive military on the planet, but it is also the most active. Since World War II, the US has used US military force in the following countries:
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1947-1949 Greece. Over 500 US armed forces military advisers were sent into Greece to administer hundreds of millions of dollars in their civil war.
1947-1949 Turkey. Over 400 US armed forces military advisers sent into Turkey, 1950- 1953
Korea. In the Korean War and other global conflicts, 54,246 US service members died.
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1957-1975 Vietnam. Over 58,219 US killed.
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1958-1984 Lebanon. Sixth Fleet amphibious Marines and US Army troops landed in Beirut during their civil war. Over 3,000 US military participated. 268 US military killed in bombing.
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1959 Haiti. US troops, Marines and Navy, landed in Haiti and joined in support of military dictator Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier against rebels.
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1962 Cuba. Naval and Marine forces blockade island.
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1964 Panama. US troops stationed there since 1903. US troops used gunfire and tear gas to clear US Canal Zone.
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1965-1966 Dominican Republic. US troops landed in the Dominican Republic during their civil war - eventually 23,000 were stationed in their country.
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1969-1975 Cambodia. US and South Vietnam jets dropped more than 539,000 tons of bombs on Cambodia - three times the number dropped on Japan during WWII.
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1964-1973 Laos. US flew 580,000 bombing runs over the country - more than two million tons of bombs dropped - double the amount dropped on Nazi Germany.
US dropped more than 80 million cluster bombs on Laos - 10 to 30 percent did not explode, leaving 8 to 24 million scattered across the country. Since the war stopped, two or three Laotians are killed every month by leftover bombs - over 5,700 killed since the bombing stopped.
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1980 Iran. Operation Desert One, eight US troops die in rescue effort.
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1981 Libya. US planes aboard the Nimitz shot down two Libyan jets over the Gulf of Sidra.
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1983 Grenada. US Army and Marines invaded - 19 US killed.
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1983 Lebanon. Over 1,200 Marines deployed into the country during their civil war. 241 US service members killed in bombing.
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1983-1991 El Salvador. Over 150 US soldiers participate in their civil war as military advisers.
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1983 Honduras. Over 1,000 troops and National Guard members deployed into Honduras to help the contra fight against Nicaragua.
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1986 Libya. US Naval airstrikes hit hundreds of targets - airfields, barracks and defense networks.
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1986 Bolivia. US Army troops assist in anti-drug raids on cocaine growers.
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1987 Iran. Operation Nimble Archer. US warships shelled two Iranian oil platforms during Iran-Iraq war.
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1988 Iran. US naval warship Vincennes in the Persian Gulf shot down Iranian passenger airliner, Airbus A300, killing all 290 people on board. US said it thought it was an Iranian military jet.
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1989 Libya. US Naval jets shot down two Libyan jets over Mediterranean.
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1989-1990 Panama. US Army, Air Force and Navy forces invaded Panama to arrest President Manuel Noriega on drug charges. The UN put civilian death toll at 500.
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1989 Philippines. US jets provided air cover to Philippine troops during their civil war.
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1991 Gulf War. Over 500,000 US military involved. 700 plus US died.
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1992-93 Somalia. Operation Provide Relief, Operation Restore Hope and Operation Continue Hope. Over 1,300 US Marines and Army Special Forces landed in 1992. A force of over 10,000 US was ultimately involved. Over 40 US soldiers killed.
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·1992-96 Yugoslavia. US Navy joined in naval blockade of Yugoslavia in Adriatic waters.
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·1993 Bosnia. Operation Deny Flight. US jets patrolled no-fly zone, naval ships launched cruise missiles, attacked Bosnian Serbs.
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·1994 Haiti. Operation Uphold Democracy. US-led force of 20,000 troops invaded to restore president.
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·1995 Saudi Arabia. US soldier killed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, outside US training facility.
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·1996 Saudi Arabia. Nineteen US service personnel died in blast at Saudi Air Base.
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·1998 Sudan. Operation Infinite Reach. US cruise missiles fired at pharmaceutical plant thought to be terrorist center.
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·1998 Afghanistan. Operation Infinite Reach. US fired 75 cruise missiles on four training camps.
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·1998 Iraq. Operation Desert Fox. US Navy bombed Iraq from striker jets and cruise missiles after weapons inspectors report Iraqi obstructions.
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·1999 Yugoslavia. US participated in months of air bombing and cruise missile strikes in Kosovo war.
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·2000 Yemen. Seventeen US sailors killed aboard US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Cole, docked in Aden, Yemen.
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·2001 Macedonia. US military landed troops during their civil war.
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·2001 to present day Afghanistan. Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) includes Pakistan and Uzbekistan with Afghanistan. 432 US killed in those countries. Another 64 killed in other locations of OEF - Guantanamo Bay, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Yemen. US military does not count deaths of non-US civilians, but estimates of over 8,000 Afghan troops killed, over 3,500 Afghan civilians killed.
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2002 Yemen. US predator drone missile attack on al-Qaeda.
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·2002 Philippines. US sent over 1,800 troops and Special Forces in mission with local military.
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·2003-2004 Colombia. US sent in 800 military to back up Columbian military troops in their civil war.
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2005 Haiti. US troops landed in Haiti after elected president forced to leave.
2005 Pakistan. US air strikes inside Pakistan against suspected al-Qaeda, mostly civilians killed.
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2007 Somalia. US Air Force gunship attacked suspected al-Qaeda members. US Navy joined in blockade against Islamic rebels.
The US has the most powerful and expensive military force in the world. The US is the biggest arms merchant. And the US has been the most aggressive in worldwide interventions. If Memorial Day in the US is supposed to be about praying for peace, the US has a lot of praying (and changing) to do.
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(Bill is a human rights lawyer and law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. His email is quigley77@gmail.com)
PFANS conclusion…
We ALL want to stop the present domestic and global madness which has imperiled our society, as well as all other global neighbors. We, the People,, have no choice but to cast away all the present politics generated by this despoiled two party political system.
This week's Congressional $$ approval of the Iraq invasion and occupation , along with growing social problems producing chaos in our society..., has become abundantly clear to the millions of citizens who no longer bother to vote..., because they are disgusted, cynicized and turned off by the parade of politicians who promise everything, but produce little or nothing to make our lives and society safe and better.
So, what is OUR alternative? Do We keep on with this charade of pretending to living in a DEMOCRACY but having NO real, genuine voice and vote in all the matters which determine our lives....., matters like WAR, Peace, and a STABLE, SENSIBLE ECONOMY in which we can expect to produce and earn all the things we need for a peaceful and prosperous life?
We CAN make real changes in the ways we use our industrial technology, and the ways we govern ourselves..., by ourselves, and not by a disengaged body of politicians whose loyalties to We the People, are secondary …, and primary to their corporate masters.
Self government is the only way in a genuine democracy.
We CAN build a real People's Party..., a cooperatively, democratically arrived at choice of name… a “DEMOCRACY Party,” a “We, the People Party,” etc., We surely do not want to see another generation of our kids destined to become military cannon fodder..., their young years threatened by the political government's military need to further corporate global expansions.
As a nation of working people, we must NEVER, NEVER forget, WE are THE majority.. and ONCE organized and ARMED with a program of DEMOCRACY in all institutions which are essential to our well being..., such as government and industry …, We will have the VOTING EMPOWERMENT to make real CHANGES, LEGALLY AND PEACEFULLY.
Memo...
PFANS Editors invite your own positive commentaries on the PFANS program. Your rational contributions are most welcome. You can be a force to expand an awareness among your friends, neighbors and work place colleagues of the needed political and industrial programs which will bring the democratic empowerment we today lack, which prevents us from democratically determining the best ways to use our institutions to make our society one of peace and prosperity.
Help Speed the Day !!