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Rolla Peace News April 3, 2018 |
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Dear Friends: http://tomsager.org/Peaceletters/peaceletter040318.html In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THIS WEEK, THURSDAY, APRIL 5 2018 2. WAR CRIMES: SELF-DEFINED 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) South Korean K-Pop Visits North Korea b) Pipeline Protesters Not Guilty By Reason Of Necessity c) The King Who Tried To Clean The Moon 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2018 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2018, (and all subsequent Thursdays until peace is established) from Noon to 1:00 PM. Please try to join us. The temperature is predicted to be in the 50s. If you do not feel comfortable standing with us in front of the Post Office, please consider driving by and showing your support for our message by honking your horn and flashing a peace sign. 2. WAR CRIMES: SELF-DEFINED This article by Rebecca Gordon details some US war crimes and criminals and more that are likely to follow. After World War II, during the Nuremburg tribunals, the list of war crimes was headed by “waging a war of aggression,” at the insistence of the United States. The reasoning was that all the other crimes committed by the Nazis were the result of this one “crime against peace.” Isn't it interesting that, 50+ years later, the United States committed this very same crime against the people and country of Iraq. And just as with the Nazis, other war crimes ensued, including torture, murder of civilians, wanton destruction of whole cities, towns and villages, and obliteration of priceless historical relics. This is not the first time our country has committed wars of aggression. The Vietnam War was just as terrible, and just as unjustified. One would think that this country, having thrown off the yoke of foreign rule in 1776, would have some fellow feeling for the Vietnamese, who no longer wanted to be exploited by the French. Instead, we came in on the side of the colonials and their minions, and pushed on until Vietnam was virtually destroyed, after which we left in defeat. During this period, similar war crimes were committed. Other countries against which we have committed acts of aggression, either overtly, or by proxy, include Libya, Syria, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Yemen, Palestine, Iran (in the 1950s) — and I'll probably think of others later. If the current administration has its way, North Korea and Iran (for the second time) will be added to the list. Trump has proudly added seasoned war criminals (and aspiring ones) to positions of power, many of whom are eager for more war. Commenting on the current State Department closure of the office that assisted victims of war crimes seeking justice, Major Todd Price, who worked as a defense attorney at Guantanamo, had this to say: “It just makes official what has been U.S. policy since 9/11, which is that there will be no notice taken of war crimes because so many of them were being committed by our own allies, our military and intelligence officers, and our elected officials. The war crime of conspiring and waging aggressive war still exists, as torture, denial of fair trial rights, and indefinite detention are war crimes. But how embarrassing and revealing of hypocrisy would it be to charge a foreign official with war crimes such as these?”Major Price is willing to call a spade a spade, but he is one of the few. Most of us would not like to think of our leaders as war criminals, so we pretend to believe (and some actually do believe) the lying justifications that allow us to continue to feel good about being Americans. But it's not possible to totally shut out the reality, and there's an uneasy feeling in the air that what goes around, comes around. When it comes, it's not going to be pretty. 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) South Korean K-Pop Visits North Korea b) Pipeline Protesters Not Guilty By Reason Of Necessity c) The King Who Tried To Clean The Moon SOUTH KOREAN K-POP VISITS NORTH KOREA South Korean k-pop music groups were well received in North Korea as relations between the two Koreas thawed further ahead of Korean summit later this month. Kim Jong-un loved the concert. This is a most positive development for peace. PIPELINE PROTESTERS NOT GUILTY BY REASON OF NECESSITY Judge Mary Ann Driscoll allowed each of 13 pipeline protesters to explain to the court why they were motivated to take part in actions to stop a Massachusetts pipeline. She then ruled that all 13 were not guilty, because their actions were necessary to prevent a greater harm. Defendant Tim DeChristopher, who served 21 months in prison for bidding at a 2008 federal gas and oil land lease auction which was later found to be illegal, said they “asked the judge to recognize that evidence was out there—that it's clear across our society the severity of climate change, the degree to which the government response has been a failure, and the degree to which regular folks like us have a necessity to act to prevent this harm.” To my knowledge, this is the first time a US court has ruled in favor of climate protesters by reason of necessity. This is a ground-breaking case. THE KING WHO TRIED TO CLEAN THE MOON As the US ramps up its propaganda against Iran and attempts to scuttle a very important international agreement on nuclear weapons, I offer this reading of an Iranian folk tale about a king who tried to clean the moon. The story may make you think of Donald Trump. Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesday evenings (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Grassroots Rolla: near the top of rightmost column). If you don't wish to get notices of peace events in the Rolla area, let me know and I'll take you off this list. If you want to be added to this list, let me know. Wage peace, Helen helenm (at) fidnet.com |