[PAA-Discuss] Fwd: Why New Evidence Demands End to Wars

Wed Dec 1 13:04:19 EST 2010

just wondering when the cables are going to leaked about sept 11,
2001.........funny.........that is when we will know Wikileaks is authentic
and not another inside job.  

  _____  

From: discuss-bounces at paa-tx.org [mailto:discuss-bounces at paa-tx.org] On
Behalf Of ChasMauch at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2010 11:50 AM
To: Discuss at paa-tx.org; codepinkhouston at lists.riseup.net
Subject: [PAA-Discuss] Fwd: Why New Evidence Demands End to Wars

This is a very interesting article!
Charlie

In a message dated 12/1/2010 10:16:51 A.M. Central Standard Time,
david at davidswanson.org writes:

Why New Evidence Demands End to Wars
With Wikileaks Revelations, Peace Community Redoubles Demand for End to Wars
and Voices Support for Whistleblowers

While only a tiny fraction of the U.S. diplomatic cables scheduled for
publication by Wikileaks have thus far been made available, some conclusions
can already be drawn.  These cables and the Iraq and Afghan War Diaries
provide an opportunity for Americans to see our government for what it is.

Our government is seen here as controlling a global military and espionage
empire that impacts every region of the globe and deceives its own
population. Secrecy, spying, and hostility have infected our entire
government, turning the diplomatic corps into an arm of the CIA and the
military, just as the civilian efforts in Afghanistan are described by
Richard Holbrooke, who heads them up, as "support for the military."  Secret
war planning, secret wars, and lies about wars have become routine.  The
United States is secretly and illegally engaged in a war in Yemen and has
persuaded that nation's government to lie about it.  The United States has
supported a coup in Honduras and lied about it.

We have long known that the war on terrorism was increasing, rather than
diminishing, terrorism.  These leaks show Saudi Arabia to be the greatest
sponsor of terrorism, and show that nation's dictator, King Abdullah, to be
very close to our own government in its treatment of prisoners.  He has
urged the United States to implant microchips in prisoners released from
Guantanamo.  And he has urged the United States to illegally and
aggressively attack Iran.  Congress should immediately block what would be
the largest weapons sale in U.S. history, selling this country $60 billion
in weapons.  And Congress should drop any idea of "updating" the 2001
Authorization to Use Military Force to permit presidents to
unconstitutionally launch more wars.  We see what sort of wars our allies
urge on our presidents. 

We learn that while dictators urge war, other branches of the same
governments, the people, and the evidence weigh against it.  We learn from a
cable from last February that Russia has refuted U.S. claims that Iran has
missiles that could target Europe.  We learn from September 2009 that the
United States and Britain planned to pressure Yukiya Amano, the then
incoming head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to produce reports
suggesting Iranian nuclear developments, whether or not merited by the
facts, and that National Security Adviser Gen. Jim Jones proposed the
propaganda strategy of baselessly tying Iran's nuclear program to North
Korea's.

Much of the pressure for war appears to come from within the United States,
whose representatives treat the entire world as a hostile enemy to be spied
on, lied to, and exploited.  The secrecy that permits this behavior must be
broken if the United States' approach to the world is to change.  Those who
have helped to fulfill President Obama's campaign promise of transparency
must be protected from his vengeance, while those who have abused positions
of diplomatic trust to advance agendas of espionage and war planning must be
held accountable. 

While other countries may offer residency and protection to Wikileaks'
Julian Assange, it is the United States that has most benefitted from his
work.  We encourage U.S. cities to offer him sanctuary.

Our Department of Justice has granted immunity for aggressive war,
kidnapping, torture, assassination, and warrantless spying, while pursuing
the criminal prosecution of Bradley Manning for allegedly leaking materials
to Wikileaks.  Were our government to indict Assange or support the
extradition or rendition of Assange from anywhere in the world to Sweden,
while maintaining that his work and not the Pentagon's has endangered us,
our nation's moral standing would reach a new low.  

Our government should cease any actions it is taking to prosecute Julian
Assange for absurd criminal charges, to pressure Sweden to do so, or to
sabotage Wikileaks' servers. Coverups of leaks have a history in Washington
of backfiring in the form of larger leaks and scandals.  Our State
Department should focus on diplomacy and mutually beneficial partnerships
with the world community.

The undersigned express our gratitude to those doing the job a
representative government and an independent media are each supposed to do.
We demand an end to all overt and covert wars, a ban on the use of State
Department employees and contractors in spying or warfare, and a full
investigation of the facts revealed in the Wikileaks cables.  

We support the protest of our current wars planned for December 16th, 10
a.m., at the White House.

Signed,
Medea Benjamin
Leslie Cagan
Tim Carpenter
Gael Murphy
Cindy Sheehan
David Swanson
Debra Sweet
Kevin Zeese

Ann Wright

-- 

David Swanson is the author of "War Is A Lie" 

http://warisalie.org <http://warisalie.org/> 

http://davidswanson.org <http://davidswanson.org/> 

http://warisacrime.org <http://warisacrime.org/> 

http://facebook.com/pages/David-Swanson/297768373319

http://twitter.com/davidcnswanson

http://youtube.com/afterdowningstreet

  _____  

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