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by Sharon Grimes, W A M M
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Star Tribune Column Features WAMM Founders
WAMM founders Polly Mann and Marianne Hamilton were featured in Doug Growe’s column, “At 87, still serving tea and fighting the militarists.” In the 25 years since they founded WAMM, it has grown to 1,800 members. “Neither one of us could have pictured that,” said Mann. Hamilton said, “There’s something special about Minnesota . . . There’s always been a strong peace movement here. It keeps you hopeful.” (Star Tribune, 6/2/07)
Costa Rica Withdraws from SOA
Costa Rica, which has no military force, will no longer send its police officers to the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the School of the Americas, in Ft. Benning, Georgia, for training. President Oscar Arias, a past winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, made the announcement May 16 after a meeting with members of the School of the Americas Watch. Costa Rica joins Venezuela, Argentina, and Uruguay in totally withdrawing its students from the school. (e-mail 5/16/07; The Nation, 5/17/07)
Cluster Bomb Treaty
A treaty to ban cluster bombs by 2008 was crafted at an international conference in Lima, Peru, in May. The conference followed another in February in Oslo, where 47 countries signed the Oslo Declaration seeking to ban the weapons; 28 more countries joined the commitment at the May conference. Six women Nobel Peace Prize winners urged the world to ban cluster bombs. U.S. Nobel Laureate Jody Williams, who won the 1997 prize for her work to ban landmines, said that “cluster munitions deserve to be singled out as an especially pernicious weapon of ill repute. They have become synonymous with civilian casualties.” (http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/news.asp?id=68; Truthout Issues, 5/22/07)
VFW Supports Veterans’ Right to Protest
The VFW asked the military to call off investigations of Iraq war veterans who wear their uniforms while protesting the war. A VFW spokesperson said, “Trying to . . . punish a fellow American for exercising the same democratic right we’re trying to instill in Iraq is not what we’re all about.” Marine corporal Adam Kokesh, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, protested at a March rally wearing his military uniform without any insignia. Unfortunately, the investigating panel said he violated regulations prohibiting wearing a uniform at a political event and used an obscenity with senior officers. Kokesh received a general discharge under honorable conditions, a step below an honorable discharge. (Star Tribune, 6/2/07; Kansas City Star, 6/13/07, http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/149070.html)
Brotherly Refusal
Three Minnesota brothers all decided separately to go AWOL from the Minnesota Army National Guard. Luke Kamunen said he began to wonder if he’d made a mistake as soon as he arrived for basic training. His twin brother, Leif, began to have doubts within weeks when he was told he’d probably be going to Iraq. Brother Leo, while home on leave at Christmas, said he didn’t want to be apart from his girlfriend “when I didn’t feel so strongly about fighting George Bush’s war.” The brothers join a growing number of troops who have gone AWOL. (3,301 deserted the U.S. Army in 2006, compared to 2,450 in 2004). (Star Tribune, 6/4/07)
Envision a Nuclear-Free Middle East
Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior II is campaigning for a Nuclear-Free Middle East. It says that eliminating both civil and military nuclear technology is vital for regional peace and security. The Rainbow Warrior has visited Egypt and Yemen, which now has its first wind farm, and plans visits to Turkey and Lebanon. In Israel, Greenpeace members protested in front of the Knesset, saying that “nuclear technology is not the solution to national security or energy needs.” They had planned a press conference in the Iranian port of Bushehr to talk about options for meeting Iran’s energy needs without nuclear power, but authorities refused to let them enter the port. (Greenpeace Update, summer 07)
Action on 40th Anniversary of Six Day War
In connection with the 40th anniversary of the Arab-Israeli war, groups are calling for an end
to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. Minnesota Metro WILPF endorsed the campaign, “The World Says No to Israeli Occupation,” which culminated with a protest in Washington, D.C. On May 15, 22 black American professors, writers, religious figures, and other leaders called on blacks in America to join in the rally and “break the silence on the injustices faced by the Palestinian people.” (Listen to Women for a Change, WILPF newsletter, May-June 2007) |
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© 2007 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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Complete July/August 2007 Index - click here
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