[PAA-Discuss] Fwd: Plowshares Action - Minuteman missles

Fri Jun 23 01:21:08 EDT 2006

>Delivered-To: paa at crosierbiomed.com
>From: "Amy Branham" <abranham at houston.rr.com>
>To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>
>Subject: Fw: Plowshares Action
>Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2006 10:53:28 -0500
>
>A message from Cindy that I have been asked to pass along.  Feel free to share as you feel appropriate.
> 
>Peace,
>Amy
> 
>
>From my friend, Art Laffin, who is in charge of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker house
>in Wash D.C.
>Please pass on.
> 
> 
> 
>Dear Cindy,
>Hope and pray you are well. Could you please spread the word about the
>latest plowshares action three of my friends did in N. Dakota. Please check
>out the Jonah House web site for photos and other info. Thanks for all your
>great work.
>We keep our eyes on the prize and hold on!!!
>Art
>
>
>
>For Immediate Release
>
>Tuesday June 20, 2006
>
>*WMD Found in North Dakota: Disarmament Begins*
>
>A Roman Catholic Priest and two Veterans went to a Minuteman III silo
>this morning and began to disarm the nuclear weapon using hammers.
>Reverend Carl Kabat, OMI, Gregory Boertje-Obed, and Michael Walli
>entered the E-9 missile silo on the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nation in
>North Dakota about 75 miles southwest of Minot. Using a sledgehammer and
>household hammers, they disabled the lock on the personnel entry hatch
>that provides access to the warhead and they hammered on the silo lid
>that covers the 300 kiloton nuclear warhead that is targeted and ready
>to launch. The activists painted DISARM on the face of the 110-ton
>hardened silo cover and the peace activists poured their blood on the
>missile lid.
>
>They were detained and arrested by McLean County Sheriffs and are being
>held in the McLean County jail in Washburn, North Dakota. The three have
>been charged with county Criminal Trespass and Criminal Mischief.
>
>Speaking from jail, Greg Boertje-Obed, from Duluth, Minnesota, explained, "
>
>Carl Kabat, OMI from St. Louis, Missouri added, "We now prepare for the
>nuclear bombing of Iran with the reasoning that only weapons of mass
>destruction can stop weapons of mass destruction. We bombed and strafed
>in Iraq based on lies that the Iraqi's possessed nuclear weapons. We
>have the weapons here."
>
>The Minuteman III missile is targeted and on alert for launch. The
>missile is armed with a warhead that carries 27 times the heat, blast
>and radiation of the bomb dropped by the U.S. on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945.
>
>The activists say that they are following the nonviolent Jesus, that
>they are taught by their faith to love their enemies, and that the money
>used for these weapons of mass destruction is a theft from the poor and
>should be used for food, housing, medical care and rebuilding the
>infrastructure of our country.
>
>ATTACHED: Statement, Fact Sheet and Biographies. For press updates, more
>information and images, go to <http://www.jonahhouse.org/>www.jonahhouse.org
>
>STATEMENT
>Nuclear Weapon Here Plowshares
>
>Please pardon the fracture of the good order.  When we were children we
>thought as children and spoke as children.  But now we are adults and
>there comes a time when we must speak out and say that the good order is
>not so good, and never really was. We know that throughout history there
>have been innumerable war crimes. Two of the most terrible war crimes
>occurred on August 6th and 9th, 1945. On August 6th, 1945, the United
>States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, killing
>more than 100,000 people (including U.S. prisoners of war). Three days
>later the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki, Japan,
>killing more than 50,000 people. Use of these weapons of mass destruction
>on civilian populations were abominable crimes against humanity.
>The U.S. has never repented of these atrocities. On the contrary, the
>U.S . has deepened and expanded its commitment to nuclear weapons. The
>U.S. built a large nuclear-industrial complex which has caused the deaths
>of many workers and has resulted in killing many more people by nuclear
>testing. Our country built thousands of nuclear weapons and has dispersed
>weapons-grade uranium to 43 nations. Each Minuteman III missile carries a
>bomb that is 27 times more powerful than those dropped on the Japanese
>people. The building of these weapons signifies that our hearts have
>assented to mass murder. Currently the U.S. is seeking to research a new
>class of smaller nuclear weapons - demonstrating its desire to find new
>uses for weapons of mass destruction.
>The U.S. is rushing down the path that leads to more death and
>destruction, ultimately bringing this nation and other nations to ruin.
>Therefore we issue a call for national repentance. We make an urgent
>appeal to the people of the U.S. to change course - to place our security
>in God and not in weapons of mass destruction.
>We have chosen to start the process of transformation and disarmament by
>hammering on and pouring our blood on components of the Minuteman III
>nuclear missile system. We believe that the concrete that goes into making
>missile silos would be better used for building homes. We know that total
>disarmament of our first-strike system of nuclear weapons will require
>national repentance with a change in the hearts and minds of the people of
>the U.S.  The pouring of our blood is meant to make visible the bloodshed
>resulting from the production, testing, and use of nuclear weapons. We
>believe the message in the Bible that after Cain killed his brother Abel
>that Abel's blood "cried out from the ground." We hear our sisters' and
>brothers' blood crying out from the ground. We believe that God hears
>these cries and grieves deeply over every person whose blood is shed.
>We call ourselves the "Weapon of Mass Destruction Here Plowshares" to
>highlight that our nation has thousands of horrific weapons of mass
>destruction. U.S. leaders speak about the dangers of other nations
>acquiring nuclear weapons, but they fail to act in accordance with the
>Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which commits the U.S. to take steps to
>disarm its weapons of mass destruction. We act in order to bring attention
>to people's responsibility for disarming weapons of state terrorism. We
>can begin the process of exposing U.S. weapons of mass destruction, naming
>them as abominations that cause desolation, and transforming them to
>objects that promote life.
>We dress as clowns to show that humor and laughter are key elements in the
>struggle to transform the structures of destruction and death. Saint Paul
>said that we are "fools for God's sake," and we say that we are "fools for
>God and humanity." Clowns as court jesters were sometimes the only ones
>able to survive after speaking truth to authorities in power.
>Is there hope for the world? Yes - if people begin to live the truth now.
>We believe that Jesus reveals who God is, and that God is a God of love
>and nonviolence, teaching us to love all people, even our enemies.
>Furthermore, the prophets Isaiah and Micah prophesy that there will come
>a time when people will learn the ways of God and
>"They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
> and their spears into pruning hooks;
> nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
> neither shall they learn war any more."
>By our plowshares/pruning hooks action we have tried to make visible
>God's will for disarmament and peacemaking. By living this truth we hope
>to shorten this murderous age - closing the gap between the future hope
>for universal peace and our present reality of endless violence and
>war-making. We begin to bring hope into the present moment.
>
>
>Carl Kabat, OMI Greg Boertje Michael Walli
>
>June 20, 2006
>
>
>
>WMD Here Plowshares
>
>
>Greg Boertje-Obed-51; from Duluth, Minnesota; member of Loaves and Fishes
>Catholic Worker and Veterans for Peace; former U.S. Army officer;
>participant in previous plowshares actions which disarmed Trident II
>nuclear missile tubes in Rhode Island, combat helicopters and
>nuclear-capable war planes in Pennsylvania, and a Tomahawk nuclear-capable
>missile launcher and missile tubes in Virginia; married to Michele
>Naar-Obed; father of Rachel Obed,--11 years old.
>"I believe Jesus led us to do this witness based on his teachings of
>intervening for the sake of the poor.  These weapons are killing us and
>the poor today.  I believe this plowshares action is a natural extension
>of our Catholic Worker mission which is hospitality, providing for the
>needs of the poor, and defending the poor."
>
>
>
>Carl Kabat, OMI-72; from St. Louis, Missouri; 47 years a Roman Catholic
>priest; worked as a missionary in the Philippines and Brazil; participated
>in the first plowshares/pruning hooks action in 1980 and the first Silo
>Pruning Hooks action in 1984 and other plowshares actions; served about 16
>years in jails and prisons.
>"We are fools and clowns for God and humanity's sake. Over 2,500 American
>soldiers have died because of nuclear weapons in the past several years in
>Iraq. Š I remember Eisenhower who said that every weapon that is made is a
>theft from the poorŠ. The only condemnation of Vatican II was that nuclear
>weapons are a crime against humanity and are to be condemned
>unreservedly."      Carl Kabat, OMI
>
>
>
>
>
>Michael R. Walli-57; Vietnam veteran; Roman Catholic; currently residing
>in Duluth, Minnesota
>I've been influenced by the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and
>the teachings of the late Pope John Paul II to oppose the culture of
>death, and this plowshares action seems to me to be a suitable way of
>acting on these teachings.    Michael Walli
>
>
>
>MINUTEMAN III - Fact Sheet
>
>A Minuteman III is a first strike Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
>(ICBM) nuclear weapon. The current U.S. ICBM force consists of 500
>Minuteman III's located in three missile fields: F.E. Warren Air Force
>Base with 150 missiles covering the corner of Colorado, Nebraska and
>Wyoming; Malmstrom AFB in Montana with 200 ICBMs; and Minot AFB in North
>Dakota with 150 missiles. These warheads can be launched from a Minuteman
>III missile silo within minutes and reach any destination within 35
>minutes. A nuclear bomb launched from a Minuteman silo produces
>uncontrollable radiation, massive heat and a blast capable of vaporizing
>and leveling everything within a 50-mile radius. Outside the 50 square
>miles -- extending into hundreds of miles -- the blast, wide-spread heat,
>firestorms and neutron and gamma rays are intended to kill, severely wound
>and poison every living thing and causing long-term damage to the
>environment. A Minuteman warhead has the potential to destroy the genetic
>code of the human race. Current warheads carry 27 times more power than
>the U.S. nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima August 6, 1945.
>
>The Minuteman III is currently undergoing upgrades to extend its 2020
>service limit. Minuteman III is the sole ICBM deployed by the United
>States. Each Mark 12 or Mark 12-A warhead in a Minuteman III silo can
>travel more than 6,000 miles at 15,000 miles per hour.
>
>At one point the U.S. had 1,000 land-based ICBMs at a cost to taxpayers of
>$7 million each. Minuteman IIIs are in transition from having 3
>independently targeted warheads to carrying one.
>
>The Minuteman missiles are dispersed in hardened silos and connected to an
>underground launch control center through a system of hardened cables.
>Launch crews, consisting of two officers, perform around-the-clock alert
>in the launch control center. A variety of communication systems provide
>the National Command Authorities with virtually instantaneous direct
>contact with each launch crew. Should command capability be lost between
>the launch control center and remote missile launch facilities, an
>airborne launch control center dubbed "looking glass" automatically
>assumes command and control of the missiles.
>
>The Minuteman III system is undergoing upgrades to: replace an aging
>guidance system; increase payloads; remanufacture the solid-fuel rocket
>motors; replace standby power system; repair launch facilities; improve
>communication; enhance accuracy; and improve survivability in a nuclear
>war.
>
>In January 2002 Nuclear Posture Review, issued by the Bush administration,
>threatens the use of nuclear weapons to "deter" any attack by chemical or
>biological as well as nuclear weapons by any non-nuclear state or entity
>within or sponsored by "the axis of evil." We now prepare for nuclear
>bombing of Iran with the reasoning that only weapons of mass destruction
>can stop weapons of mass destruction.
>
>By any standard of proof, the threat or use of the Minuteman III
>constitutes crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity
>or genocide.
>
>
>
>
>
>Don't forget to visit our website <http://www.jonahhouse.org/>www.jonahhouse.org
> 


-- 
Bill Crosier
paa at crosierbiomed.com     713-641-4941
Progressive Action Alliance         http://progressiveactionalliance.org/
Lying, Spying, Torture... IMPEACH!  http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/