“For there has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited.…. War is like unto a fire; those who will not put aside weapons are themselves consumed by them”. So wrote Sun Tzu from China in the third century BCE. The current stage of the US war in Afghanistan began ten years [read more]
Cost of War
Mar 192011
Dec 222010
Last week when over 100 veterans chained themselves to the White House gates, protesting passage of a Defense Appropriations Bill and resulting in one of the largest mass arrest in years, there was hardly a whisper in the news. ROP Leader, Mike Edera shares this thought piece for the ROP and progressive community:
The third week of December was dominated by raging debate over extending the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy, which will cost the nation $150 billion over two years. The liberal websites were awash in outrage. Meanwhile, in the same week, the House and Senate passed a $725 billion 2011 Defense Appropriation Act, which included almost $160 billion to continue the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Doing a Dec 18 search of Commondreams, Buzzflash, Truthout, and Truthdig, the only discussion I find of the Defense Appropriation Bill is about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (allowing gay people to serve in the military), and the Dream Act (helping undocumented immigrant youth to attend college, and to serve in the military), which were both originally included in the Defense Appropriation Bill (The Dream Act was stripped from the Bill. The abolition of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell passed as separate legislation).
In times of crisis and media hype, clarity can be hard to find. How do we stay grounded when the news is so chaotic? Yet it is the midst of crisis that we need to shake of the chaos and emerge in our communities as clear-eyed guides.
When I heard about the recent sting operation against Mohamed Osman Mohamud for trying to plan a bombing in Portland, I worked hard to see with those clear eyes. I started wondering, is Mohamud a dangerous sleeper cell terrorist waiting for the opportunity to strike? Or is he a misguided youth who happens to also be Somali and who fell into a bad FBI entrapment plan? What is right and wrong when it comes to our families’ security? Or our civil rights?
Somewhere along the road of our two-week, 5-presenter, 16-stop, 600-participant No Soy El Army Justice Tour it became crystal clear – building deep relationships across race, class, age and culture is the most important thing Human Dignity Groups can do to make fundamental social change possible.
Sep 282010
** Second leg of the No Soy El Army Justice Tour starts September 26th,
see full tour schedule below.**
During one of those perfect Oregon weeks in late August, the Rural Organizing Project packed up our little car with a folder full of maps, a case of translation headsets, a bilingual translator and two amazing visiting organizers. We drove to 6 communities where the presenters spoke of their personal experiences with the military – the seduction for them as youth, its violence towards them &, ultimately, their organizing against the militarization of their communities.
The August leg of the No Soy El Army Tour was a huge success. From a park in Hermiston to a church basement in Newport, people talked about peace abroad, peace in our own communities, and opportunities for our rural & Latino youth beyond graduation.