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by Sharon Grimes, W A M M
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Local Editor Requests Impeachment
Eddie Felien, editor of Southside Pride, sent a resolution to the Hennepin County attorney calling for the arrest of President Bush when he comes to Minnesota for the Republican Convention. Felien cites specific statutes, and asks that Bush be impeached for crimes that violate the laws of the state, including
• murder in the third degree for sending Minnesota National Guard troops to Iraq, for the “sole purpose of enriching his family’s business, Halliburton, and . . . causing the death of Minnesota citizens.”
• price fixing “because, through Halliburton’s control of Iraqi oil, he has acted in collusion with Saudi Arabia and OPEC to fix the price and supply of oil to distributors in Hennepin County.” (FaithFreedom.org, 5/24/08)
Making the Town Safe
In March voters in Brattleboro and Marlboro, Vermont, voted to have Bush and Cheney arrested if they ever come to either town. (USA Today, 3/5/08) In September 2007, 1000 people marching to the UN attempted to issue a citizens’ arrest for Bush. (RogueGovernment.com, 9/27/07, http://www.roguegovernment.com/news.php?id=4181)
U.S. Soldiers Won’t Return to Iraq
U.S. Army Sergeant Matthis Chiroux told Congress in May that he refuses to go to Iraq because he considers the war illegal. “My decision is based on my desire to no longer continue violating my core values to support an illegal and unconstitutional occupation . . . I refuse to participate in the Iraq occupation,” he said. He is one of thousands of U.S. soldiers who have deserted since the war began, according to army figures released last year. Earlier that day, veterans who have turned against the war testified about serious flaws in the chain of command and denounced the official version that the U.S. effort in Iraq is succeeding. (AlterNet.com, 5/16/08, http://www.alternet.org/ waroniraq/85612)
Australia Out of Iraq
Australia began pulling out its remaining combat troops from Iraq. The 550 troops are expected to be home within the next few weeks. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was elected in November partly because of his promise to bring the troops home by the middle of this year. (StarTribune, 6/2/08)
Investing in Women and Girls
On April 13, Women, Faith, and Development Alliance (WFDA) launched Breakthrough: The Women, Faith, and Development Summit to End Global Poverty. Some 90 organizations made commitments of more than $1.4 billion to invest in women and girls. The partnership of faith, women’s, and development organizations aims to put women at the center of global poverty efforts. WFDA was first convened in 2006 and now has 120 member organizations. (Women Thrive Worldwide Newsletter, May 2008)
Recruiter Abuse Help Hotline
The National Youth and Militarism Recruiter Abuse Hotline at 1-877-688-6881 was started by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) to respond to increasing complaints of abuse. Because recruiter abuse has become such a problem, a congressional committee suggested installing surveillance equipment in recruiting stations. But that does not protect young people in school recruiting situations. AFSC will track abuses to support their goal of demilitarizing youth and youth spaces and will support families reporting abuses. (http://www.afsc.org/youthmil/ militarism-in-schools/RecruiterAbuseHotline.htm)
Former Bush Press Secretary Comes Clean
Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan writes in his book, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception, that President Bush led a sophisticated “political propaganda campaign” to sell the Iraq war to the American people by “manipulating sources of public opinion” and “downplaying the major reason for going to war.” McClellan has been criticized for not speaking up at the time and now profiting from his book. MoveOn held a petition drive urging him to donate the profits to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. On “Meet the Press” June 1, when asked by Tim Russert, McClellan said he would donate some of the book profits. (WashingtonPost.com, 5/28/08; MoveOn, 6/2/08, http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3726&id=12771-1574365-Zt9khh&t=1)
Reactor Goes Dark
Russia shut down the second of its three plutonium-producing reactors under a nuclear nonproliferation agreement with the United States. This ends 43 years of plutonium production at Seversk. (StarTribune, 6/6/08)
Senate Committee Rebukes Bush and Cheney
In other criticism of the Bush administration tactics, the Senate Intelligence Committee rebuked Bush and VP Cheney for deliberately misleading the U.S. public with their erroneous prewar claims including ties between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaida and Iraq’s links to September 11. (StarTribune, 6/6/08)
Police to Apologize to Activist
St. Paul police said they would apologize to an antiwar activist for detaining him for passing out leaflets at the rally for Barack Obama. A police spokesperson said they thought he was violating an ordinance against peddling within a certain distance of the Xcel Center. Instead, the leaflets were promoting a September 1 march on the Republican National Convention, which is protected as free speech. (StarTribune, 6/6/08). |
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© 2008 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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Complete June 2008 Index - click here
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