WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 15 -

WHEN : Thursday, March. 15, 12 PM

WHAT : CODEPINK Co-founder Gael Murphy and 10 other peace activists arrested Thursday morning at 9:30 am while attempting to enter the public Appropriations Committee vote on the Supplemental Bill allocating $100 billion for the war in Iraq. CODEPINK has been lobbying hard against the passage of this bill and will hold a press conference today to respond to Ms. Murphy's forceful arrest and today's vote in the House Appropriations Committee. CODEPINK is dismayed that the Democrats, who were given a mandate for peace in the November election, are allowing a bill to go to the House floor that will let the war drag on into 2008 instead of using their power of the purse to cut funds for the war.

TO: MAUI PEACE ACTION & Maui Interfaith-Community Peace Coalition

RE:  What would you do to stand up to Bush and his call for sending more troops to the Iraq civil war?

Would you hold a sign with others saying NO more troops to die for oil?

Would you visit a recruiter's office, or stand outside it with a sign?

Would you let other Maui citizens see that you support our troops by demanding they be brought home?

Would you join us on Valentine’s Day afternoon, Feb. 14,  for a 1-hour peace demonstration? Meet at the front entrance to the Queen Ka'ahumanu Shopping Center, Kahului, at 3:30pm, or as close to that as you can.

Suggested theme of signs and t-shirts: to show that our hearts are broken over the 3,115 American service men and women dead for Bush’s lies (as of Feb. 8), the over 23,000 wounded, thousands more suffering the anguish of PTSD, and more than 655,000 Iraqi men, women and children killed for Bush’s oil war. To show that we vehemently urge Congress to Stop the war funding, Stop the surge and bring our troops home from the Iraq civil war. DON'T SEND MORE TROOPS TO DIE FOR THE LIE-BASED WAR!

PLANNING AND SIGN-MAKING SESSION FROM 2 TO 4PM, SATURDAY, FEB. 10, MCC HALE 217 (near tree-shaded front parking lot).  Bring ideas and signage ( cardboard and poster board for large hearts, white t-shirt, paints, etc) if you can.  Does anyone have a megaphone that can be used on Feb. 14?

Bring your ohana to the Maui Community College’s (MCC) front lawn on Saturday February 10th from 4pm to 9pm to launch a movement of community activism to sustain Maui’s future.

"Malama Maui: Think Island, Think Sustainability" is a FREE event for the whole family. Join us to browse booths, listen to presentations, and watch the screening of three locally-produced films and Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth."

Download Press Release [PDF]

Overman video

On Monday, February 5, 2007 take action against the Iraq war and in support of Lt. Watada during his military court martial.  Stand up with Lt. Watada and speak out against the illegal and immoral war!  Join the national movement and organize student walkouts and non-violent demonstrations.  Together let's build a mass movement in the streets, in our schools, and in our communities to end the Iraq War.  On Feb. 5, 2007 rally at the gates of Fort Lewis, Washington or in your local community.

For courageously standing up and speaking out against the Iraq War, New Year's Eve 2007 may be Lt. Watada's last holiday as a free man until 2013.  While many 28 year-olds are starting their families and building their careers, Ehren will be locked away in military prison for following his conscience and refusing to fight in the Iraq War.

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled the U.S. Army violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it failed to consider any location other than Hawai'i for conversion of the 2nd Brigade of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division into a brigade built around the 25-ton Stryker fighting vehicle. The court agreed with Native Hawaiian organizations 'Ïlio'ulaokalani Coalition, Nä 'Imi Pono, and Kïpuka, represented by Earthjustice, that the Army's decision to transform in Hawai'i was illegal, since it failed to conduct the mandated analysis of the environmental impacts of stationing a Stryker brigade in Hawai'i or of "reasonable alternatives to such a transformation."Read more...

This morning, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki addressed a joint session of Congress. During a segment of his speech in which al-Maliki said that Iraqi's ink-stained fingers evidenced their desire for democracy, Medea Benjamin, cofounder of CODEPINK: Women for Peace and Global Exchange, stood up from the gallery and shouted, "Iraqis want the troops to leave, bring them home now! Listen to the Iraqis!"

Benjamin repeated the statement several times before she was forcefully lifted from her seat, handcuffed, and escorted out by Capitol police. Benjamin was wearing a pink shirt with the statement "Troops Home Now" written on it.  Read more...

Israel had just put out an S.O.S. to the United States government to rush over several more bombs. "The decision to quickly ship the weapons to Israel was made with relatively little debate within the Bush administration," according to the New York Times. Although always well-equipped with sophisticated US-made weapons, Israel was evidently running out of munitions to drop on the Lebanese people.

Washington loses no opportunity to scold Iran and Syria for providing weapons to Hezbollah.

Yet during the Bush administration, from 2001 to 2005, Israel received $10.5 billion in Foreign Military Financing - the Pentagon's biggest military aid program - and $6.3 billion in US arms deliveries. Israel is the largest recipient of US foreign military assistance.

It is a violation of the US Arms Export Control Act to provide weapons to foreign countries that are not used for defensive purposes or to maintain internal security. During the last major Israeli incursion into Lebanon, in 1981, the Reagan administration cut off US military aid and arms deliveries for 10 weeks while it investigated whether Israel was using weapons for "defensive purposes."

Last week, both houses of Congress, mindful of the importance of retaining Jewish votes and campaign contributions, passed resolutions stating that Israel is acting in self-defense. The vote in the Senate was unanimous; the House vote was 410 to 8.

Walking in lockstep with Bush, neither resolution calls for a ceasefire.  Read more...

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- The U.N. observers killed when an Israeli bomb hit their bunker in Lebanon Tuesday called an Israeli military liaison about 10 times in the six hours before they died to warn that aerial attacks were getting close to their position, a U.N. officer said.

After each call, the Israeli officer promised to have the bombing stopped, an officer at the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) base in Noqoura said.

Finally, an Israeli bomb exploded directly on the U.N. post near Khiyam, killing four U.N. observers from Austria, Finland, Canada and China, the U.N. officer said. Read more...

  A CBS poll finds that 80 percent of Democrats believe the United States should have stayed out of Iraq, and more than 60 percent want US troops home as soon as possible. A Washington Post/ABC poll finds that 70 percent of Independents feel the war was not worth it, and 33 percent of Republicans agree. Even 72 percent of our troops believe US forces should leave Iraq in the next year. Read more...

Sign Peace Pledge

On Thursday, June 8, 2006 U.S. Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada's commanding officer moved to prosecute Lt. Watada for protected speech. An official investigation into his public speech in opposition to the illegal war in Iraq is underway. Lt. Watada was read his rights and declined to make a statement without a lawyer present.

The Time Is Now

For What it's Worth Video

Peace Takes Courage
See her video

Hawaii Foundation of Democratic Women
Maui Beach Hotel, June 10th.

            

Keynote by Joshua Dawson ~ Served on active duty as an Infantry Radioman with the Army's 25th Infantry Division from 1998 to 2005. He was due to get out of the service in 2004 but was trapped by the Army's Stop loss/ Stop Movement policy and was deployed to Iraq from Jan 2004 to Jan 2005 ... to a war that he opposed from the beginning. Spending no more than three months at any one location, Joshua’s unit conducted combat operations in Tuz Kurmatzu, Tall Affar, An Najaf (twice), Kirkuk, Sammara, and ended in Mousil. Joshua completed his entire military obligation and was honorably discharged in April of 2005.

He now shares his experiences to aid in ending the unjust occupation of Iraq as well as the continued loss of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians.

Joshua lives in Honolulu, Hawai’i and is the organizer for the Hawai’i Chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War as well as Volunteer counselor with the GI RIGHTS HOTLINE.

Bill Stroud ~ Vietnam Combat Veteran who served as a Helicopter Crew Chief and Door Gunner from '67 to '69. Bill is a Founder of the Vietnam Veterans of Maui County, a 20-year old non-profit organization formed to focus on Veterans Issues. He currently serves as its President, is married and has a 9 year old son.

Kuuipo Lilikoi ~ 14 year Army Reservist who fought in Iraq March 2004 to March 2005. A graduate of Lahaina Luna High School, Kuuipo was born on Oahu, works in Kaanapali, and has three children.

The Nation
by John Nichols

"...The Dixie Chicks have for the past three years taken more hits than any other musicians because, ten days before Bush ordered the invasion and occupation of Iraq, Maines told a cheering crowd at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire theater: "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."

For the "crime" of prematurely voicing a sentiment that is now close to universal in the US--with more than two-thirds of Americans expressing disapproval of Bush--the Dixie Chicks were hit with a full-frontal assault by right-wing media. Talk radio and television labeled them the Ditzy Chicks and their popular songs suddenly were yanked from country-music playlists. Boycotts were announced..." Read more...

So, Haditha becomes another of the names at which we wince, along with Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and My Lai. Tell you what: Let’s not use the “stress of combat” excuse this time. According to neighbors, the girls in the family of Younis Khafif—the one who kept pleading in English, “I am a friend. I am good”—were 14, 10, 5, 3 and 1. What are they going to say? “Under stress of combat, we thought the baby was 2”?

“We have a Haditha every day,” said Muhanned Jasim, an Iraqi merchant. “Were [those killed in Haditha] the first Iraqis to be killed for no reason?” asked Ghasan Jayih, a pharmacist. Well no, but we Americans don’t count collateral damage unless we’re forced to. We prefer to ignore collateral damage, especially if they’re under 5.  Read the article

OLYMPIA, Washington - A ship carrying military gear bound for Iraq pulled away from this Puget Sound port Wednesday evening after a week of protests in which more than three dozen people were arrested.

At least 100 protesters chanted "Stop that boat!" as the 950-foot cargo ship pulled away from a dock at the Port of Olympia.

Anti-war protesters attach a banner that reads 'against all terrorism' to the fence at the Port of Olympia Wednesday, May 31, 2006, in Olympia, Wash., where about 100 people were demonstrating against a 950-foot military cargo ship, seen in the background, bound for Iraq. The mood was lighter than previous nights where more than 20 were arrested and pepper spray was used. The USNS Pomeroy left the port later in the evening. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
The demonstrators also staged a brief "die-in" on the ground to illustrate their opposition to the war in Iraq. There were no immediate arrests, as protesters confined themselves to yelling at law enforcement personnel on hand.  Read more...

The intrepid Molly Ivins recently wrote that she was fed up with "every calculating, equivocating, triangulating, straddling, hair-splitting son of a bitch" in Washington DC. "This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one," Molly proclaimed. "It is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.

"Take a Stand by Signing the Voters Pledge! What if millions decided to vote their conscience and said 'No More War Candidates'? The Voters Pledge makes visible a powerful political force, the peace vote, a force that politicians cannot continue to ignore. It sends a clear message to the hawkish minority that leads both major parties to end the occupation of Iraq and to end unprovoked attacks on other nations. Sign the Voters Pledge and ask at least 10 of your friends to sign as well. You can help get 2 million signers in 2006!

No One Knows What We Are Going Through

"It will not come as news to those who have followed developments in southern Iraq that women are being forced to wear the hijab and prevented from living their lives freely. But it brings these developments home when we see young women and their families talking about being sent bullets and death threats because they played sport or did not wear a headscarf.

As Zeina emphasises, this kind of experience is new to most women in Iraq, who enjoyed economic and social freedom before the occupation. "A while ago, I was looking at photographs of my aunt in college in the 60s, wearing pants and sleeveless tops, playing sports in the college yard; and then I looked at the photographs of the women in college today, and they are covered in black from head to toe, their faces also covered."

Read more

...it's clearer than ever that Mr. Bush, who still claims that war with Iraq was a last resort, was actually spoiling for a fight. The New York Times has confirmed the authenticity of a British government memo reporting on a prewar discussion between Mr. Bush and Tony Blair. In that conversation, Mr. Bush told Mr. Blair that he was determined to invade Iraq even if U.N. inspectors came up empty-handed.  Read more

In the essay, in this week's issue of Time magazine, General Newbold wrote, "I now regret that I did not more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat — Al Qaeda."

"The cost of flawed leadership continues to be paid in blood."

The decision to invade Iraq, he wrote, "was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions — or bury the results." Read the essay