Obama Administration

Introduction and Welcome to Requiem for W… Overture for O: Works of Conscience from 2000–2008
Statement by Jesse Phillips-Fein

Recommendations for President Obama's First 100 Days
Read BFP recommendations to the new president

Peace and Economic Justice

A Peace Surge in the First 100 Days
by Rep. Major Owens (ret.)
Ending combat in Iraq is only step one. Real change on the peace front requires launching a massive mobilization for peace. Counteracting the existing militarized culture we must, without delay, commence building a culture of peace.

Opening Remarks at Brooklyn Peace Fair 2008
by Carolyn Eisenberg
The bigger commitment is to keep working together, in whatever way feels comfortable — with family, friends, fellow students, neighbors, co-workers to make Brooklyn's voice for peace and social justice so loud and strong that it cannot be ignored. Our organization Brooklyn for Peace is dedicated to achieving this mission.

Permanent Mobilization for Peace, Justice and Prosperity
Presentation at the Brooklyn Peace Fair 2008
by Major Owens
Brooklyn for Peace! Say it Loud! It's time to feel proud. There is No Manhattan for Peace; No Queens for Peace; No Bronx for Peace. But in Brooklyn one dedicated group is brave enough, dedicated enough to assume responsibility for all of Brooklyn. We salute all of the founders and constantly working members who have made Brooklyn for Peace a reality. These leaders have made a bold statement of a highly desirable aspiration.

Can You Say "Permanent Bases"? The American Press Can't
by Tom Engelhardt, Tomdispatch.com, a project of the Nation Institute
Whatever top administration officials and military commanders say — and they always deny that we seek "permanent" bases in Iraq — facts-on-the-ground speak with another voice entirely. These bases practically scream "permanency."

Opening Remarks at Brooklyn Peace Fair 2005
by Carolyn Eisenberg
On September 11, 2001 we learned in the most dramatic way possible what happens when violent men with a mission target a city. Although the Bush Administration has used our suffering as an excuse for war and made our landscape a stage-set for their Republican convention, their goals were not ours.

Destiny Not in Iraqis' Hands
by Carolyn Eisenberg
U.S. intervention is to blame for the war-torn country's inability to select its new president. Two months past the dramatic day when millions of brave Iraqis lined up to vote, the country still lacks a functioning government. Whenever this demoralizing logjam is finally broken, it is important to recognize that the real source of failure resides in Washington and not Baghdad.

Another Whopper: Iraqi "Sovereignty"
by Carolyn Eisenberg
The official news from Baghdad was that the Coalitional Provisional Authority (CPA) Administrator L. Paul Bremer had turned over political authority to a new Iraqi interim government. The sad truth is that the Iraqis do not "have their country back" and for that matter, neither do we.

New Watergate Soaks White House
by Carolyn Eisenberg
It is time for Congress to step up to its constitutional responsibility and conduct a full-scale investigation of whether members of the Bush administration engaged in fraud.

Iran Seeks to Expand Influence among Iraqi Shi'a Community
by Ardeshir Moaveni , Eurasianet
Since US forces toppled Saddam Hussein's regime, Iran has quietly worked to expand its influence in Shi'a-dominated areas of Iraq. Tehran views the strengthening of cultural and religious ties among adherents of the Shi'a branch of Islam as a vital national interest.

Has Our Government Put Our Troops at Risk While Engaging in Mass Deception?
by Brooklyn For Peace
A look at how Bush administration justifications for war stack up against the facts.

Letting The Record Speak
by the stafff of Tom Paine.com
Did/does Iraq have weapons of mass destruction? Here's a list of the conradictory statements and outright lies of U.S. government officials and spokespeople about Iraq's possession of WMDs.

Red Cross Denied Access to POWs
by Ed Vulliamy , The Observer
The Red Cross has been denied access to Iraqi POWs by the U.S. military, in clear violation of the applicable Geneva Conventions. Up to 3,000 Iraqis — some of them civilians — are believed to be gagged, bound, hooded and beaten at U.S. camps close to Baghdad airport.

Surveys pointing to High Civilian Death Toll in Iraq
by Peter Ford, The Christian Science Monitor
Preliminary surveys point to high civilian death toll in Iraq. Evidence is mounting to suggest that between 5,000 and 10,000 Iraqi civilians may have died during the recent war, according to researchers involved in independent surveys of the country.

Nuclear Looting — Iraqi Scientist Sees Widespread Contamination
by Jalal Ghazi, Pacific News Service
After occupying Baghdad, U.S. forces failed to secure the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center and opened drums that UN inspectors had sealed, permitting extensive looting of the facility. This failure may result in widespread radiation contamination within Baghdad and a possble new blackmarket source of nuclear material worldwide.

Iran's Azeri Question: What Does Iran's Largest Ethnic Minority Want?
by Afshin Molavi, EurasiaNet
Iranian Azeris, who comprise at least one-quarter of Iran's population and possibly more, are attracting increased interest from US policy-makers, especially those who are interested in promoting "regime change" in Tehran. Some American analysts view Iranian Azeris as a potential source of instability for Tehran.

Parallels in the Past
by Prakash Karat, Frontline, an Indian weekly.
A concise and critical history of past occupations of Iraq and past Iraqi uprisings against occupation.

Public Still Rejects Unilateralism, Imperial Role
by Jim Lobe
A report on a late April 2003 survey of over 800 Americans which revealed that despite support for the Iraq war, a majority oppose continued U.S. unilateral actions and urge co-operation with the U.N.

Germany Is No Model for Iraq
by Prof. Mary Nolan, NYU and Prof. Atina Grossmann, Cooper Union
An analysis of the signifcant differences between current U. S. plans for post-war Iraq and the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II.

Revolution City
by Peter Beaumont, The Observer
A report that Iraq's downtrodden Shia majority is rising up. It speaks with many voices, but its demand is simple — Islamic government under sharia law.

Code Pink Alert Statement to Sen. Hillary Clinton, March 8, 2003
by Carolyn Eisenberg

Why Iraq
by Molly Nolan

Israel / Palestine

Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza, Created by Israel, Backed by U.S.
Statement of Brooklyn For Peace
One and a half million human beings live in Gaza — an integral part of Palestine. They are suffering extreme hardship — their economy has collapsed due to the Israeli blockade, which has severely limited imports and prevented all exports since June 2007. A narrow strip of land, Gaza is besieged on all sides by land, sea, and air — with sophisticated barbed-wire fences, concrete walls and military lookout towers, and Israeli navy ships. See Brooklyn For Peace Statement:

Brooklyn For Peace Walk for Peace: August 9, 2006
by David Tykulsker
Remarks at a protest to call for an immediate cease fire in Lebanon; the ending of all arms shipments to all parties in the region; an end to the Israeli occupation of Lebanon; a prompt exchange of prisoners and an international conference to address the problems, particularly the problems of Palestine.

International Community Supports A Deluxe Occupation
by Meron Benvenisti, originally published in Haretz
From the outset of the present intifada, external bodies have contributed more than a billion dollars to finance the Palestinian Authority's budget, thus providing a living to many households (whose breadwinners were employed by the PA), consisting of almost half a million people. The net result has been to allow Israel to maintain a deluxe occupation without financial cost.

The Rantisi Attack: The Children of Death
by Uri Avnery, Counterpunch
The tireless Israeli peace activist demonstrates that the Sharon government had planned to sabotage the Road Map peace process, even while mouthing acceptance. He goes on to show that the complete militarization of the Israeli government and political sphere has seriously undermined democracy in that country.

The Daughter I Can't Hear From
by Carrie Corrie, Alternet.org
Rachel Corrie is the American solidarity activist killed by the Israeli Defense Forces in Palestine on March 16, 2003, using an American made bulldozer. On this Mother's Day, Rachel's mother Carrie Corrie reflects on the holiday and the situation in Palestine.

Bedouin in the Negev Face New "Transfer"
by Jonathan Cooke, Middle East Report Online
Little-noticed in the glare of the war on Iraq, the continuing incursions of the Israeli Defense Forces in the Occupied Territories, and the concern over the growing sentiment for "transfer" of the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been preparing a plan to rid the huge semi-desert area of the Negev, located in the south of Israel, of its Bedouin population, a process of internal "transfer".

The "Roadmap": Repeating Oslo's Human Rights Mistakes
by Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch predicts that the U.S. endorsed road map to a Palestinian state and security for Israel will fail unless, unlike previous peace plans, the human rights of the Palestinians are respected; it urges the U.S. and the other Quartet members to take prompt affirmative action to protect these rights

Media

Why Don't We Have Answers to These 9/11 Questions?
by William Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News republished by TruthOut
Two years after the most complete failure of U.S. intelligence and defense since Pearl Harbor, questions abound as to who, what, when, and why this terrible event occurred. Here are a few good questions that remain unanswered.

Weapons of Mass Destruction: Who Said What When
from CounterPunch
Did/does Iraq have weapons of mass destruction? Here's a list of the conradictory statements and outright lies of U.S. government officials and spokespeople about Iraq's possession of WMDs.

Outrage At Administration Lying Misses A Crucial Point
by Ira Chernus, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder
Professor Chernus suggests that the general popular indifference to the revelation of the lies of the Bush Administration around the invasion and occupation of Iraq are but symptoms. Relying on the work of Frederic Jameson, he suggests that the deeper problem is a more general acceptance of manufactured image in place of reality.

Associated Press Puts Violent Words in Iraqi Protesters' Mouths
The Associated Press incorrectly reported that Iraqi protesters threatened to kill U.S. military personnel. Bias seems the likely cause.

The Military's Media
by Robert Jensen, The Progressive
Prof. Robert Jensen provides an overview of the failures of the U.S. media, despite amazing technological sophistication, to provide what citizens in a democracy need from journalism.

Asia

Korea, North and South, At Risk
by Chalmers Johnson, Z Magazine Online
This excellent article by one of the most provocative analysts of US policy, situates North Korea's recent war-like acts in the context of the U.S. Empire and its war on Iraq.  

Civil Liberties/Police Misconduct

Statement of Brooklyn For Peace on the Sean Bell Case and Systemic Police Brutality
The Sean Bell case is another egregious example of how the militarization of our society is occurring at home while war and occupation continue abroad. Police in NYC have been allowed to assume the role of an occupying power in minority communities. An invading or occupying power assumes certain life and death privileges over the populace it dominates.

Environmentalists = Terrorists — The New Math
by Karen Charman, Tom Paine
Under cover of the War On Terrorism, anti-environmental groups have been promoting legislation, including a bill here in New York, that would criminalize ecological protest and dissent. The bill's vague language could encompass all environmental advocacy activity from signing petitions and peaceful protests and demonstrations to environmental organizations working to protect natural resources and environmental quality across the country. Furthermore, the bill would also create specific penalties for those who donate money to environmental organizations involved with political and social protests, demonstrations, and debates.

Civil Liberties and the Culture of War
by David Tykulsker

Weapons

Back to Bioweapons?
by Mark Wheelis & Malcolm Dando, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
The Biological Weapons Treaty, which the U.S. ratified and came into force in 1975, had no enforcement mechanism. Negotiations for a verification protocol commenced in 1995, but were scuttled by the Bush Administration. The United States may have rejected the bioweapons protocol because it is committed to continuing and expanding its secret bioweapons programs.

American History

This is Your Story — The Progressive Story of America. Pass It On
by Bill Moyers, Common Dreams
In this speech, Moyers links current efforts to reclaim democracy at home and turn back the Bush Administration to the efforts of the Progressives of the late 19th and early 20th Century. Likening Bush to William McKinley and Karl Rove to Mark Hanna, Moyers urges us to find inspiration in the successful efforts to limit the plutocrats of that earlier era.

Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam
by Dr. Marin Luther King
Delivered more than thirty-five years ago, Martin Luther King's declaration of opposition to the U.S. war in Vietnam and anti-communistm remains frighteningly timely about the U.S. war in Iraq and anti-terrorism.

Hear an excerpt of Martin Luther King delivering this speech.