THE SAN DIEGO COALITION FOR PEACE AND
JUSTICE generally meets the SECOND and FOURTH
Monday of each month at
the First Church of the Brethren at 7 pm, 3850
Westgate Place, San Diego.
WE HAVE RECENTLY CHANGED OUR SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS - if unsure, call (619) 263-9301
or email info@sdcpj.org) For directions, click
here.
HIGH SCHOOL LEAFLETTING Help pass out anti-war/pro-peace leaflets at local
high schools (La Jolla, Sweetwater, Poway, San
Marcos, San Dieguito, Madison, Lincoln, Vista and
others). For more info: sjagitator@ucsd.edu
Get Involved with Peace!
The U.S. occupation of Iraq has led to over
4,000 American deaths and roughly 30,000 injuries.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died and millions are homeless.
Spending on the war thus far has been:
over $520,000,000,000
Ten Things You
Can Do to Oppose the War in Afghanistan
This article appeared in the April 27, 2009 edition of The Nation
Ten
Things
The
war in Afghanistan is a quagmire bordering on a catastrophe. With a
current price tag of $2 billion a month, this drawn-out conflict took
the lives of 155 American soldiers and 2,118 Afghan civilians last
year--the bloodiest year of the war to date. Western airstrikes alone
killed 522 civilians, fueling hostility toward the United States and
causing more Afghans to join and support the Taliban insurgency that
has
spread into Pakistan. President Obama has escalated our military
presence by committing an additional 17,000 US troops and 4,000
trainers
to work with Afghan security forces. Where is the public outcry? The
Nation and Z.P. Heller, editorial director of Brave New Films, have
put together a list of things you can do to oppose the war.
1 Watch parts one and two of Brave New Films'
documentary Rethink
Afghanistan, which
explores many fundamental questions.
3 Check out the coalition of bloggers and activists seeking
nonmilitary alternatives to escalation at Get Afghanistan Right.
4 Demand Congressional oversight hearings. It is Congress's
duty to challenge policy-makers and inform the public about everything
from the overall mission to the efficiency of military agencies. Sign a
petition calling
on Senator John Kerry and Representative Howard Berman to hold hearings
immediately.
5 What
question would you ask at a Congressional hearing on
Afghanistan? Take a video of yourself or a friend asking your question
and e-mail it to
Brave New Foundation
via YouTube. For help on recording and uploading your video to YouTube,
watch the tutorial
video and follow the Quick Capture
instructions and then go to Rethink
Afghanistan to submit the video.
6 Contact
your senators and representative directly to
demand Congressional oversight hearings. If you can't visit their
offices, a phone call or e-mail to voice your opinion can be just as
effective.
7 Write to your local paper's editorial board and your
favorite political blogs to raise concerns about the war. Don't let the
mainstream media remain silent as they did before the Iraq War!
8 Support anti-escalation Afghan groups working for women's
rights and social justice. You can aid organizations like the Afghan
Women's Mission, MADRE and the Revolutionary
Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) by buying them
equipment from their Amazon "wish
list" that helps them document and spread the news about their
efforts. Stay updated with the Afghan Women's Mission newswire.
9 Join the Campus Antiwar
Network and
hold teach-ins, debates, talks, demonstrations and walkouts on college
campuses across the country.
10 Get involved in the peace movement with groups like Win
Without War and Peace
Action West, which are devoted to finding nonviolent
alternatives to military escalation in Afghanistan. Follow Peace Action
West on Twitter.
CONCEIVED by WALTER MOSLEY
with research by Rae Gomes
NOTICE OF BLACKWATER USA NAME CHANGE
BLACKWATER = XE (pronounced "zee")
"A mercenary by any other name still smells rotten"
(With apologies to William Shakespeare)
RECURRING EVENT
CANDLELIGHT VIGIL FOR ROBIN LONG
There will be a recurring Candlelight Vigil for Robin Long every month
held
near the North Gate of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
Robin is the first active duty American G.I. Iraq war resister to
desert the
United States military and seek asylum in Canada.
He was subsequently extradited and turned over to the US Government for
prosecution.
He was tried and convicted in a military courts martial, and is
currently
serving his sentence in the brig at MCAS Miramar.
This action is sponsored by
San Diego Veterans For Peace
Hugh Thompson Memorial Chapter 91
The next vigil will be held in May:
DATE: Tuesday, June 2nd
TIME: 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm
PLACE: North Gate to MCAS Miramar
Northwest Corner of Miramar Road & Clayton Drive
PLEASE CHECK WITH THE SPONSORS OF THIS EVENT FOR LATEST INFORMATION ABOUT THE NEXT VIGIL!
The recurring vigil will be held on the first Tuesday of every month
4:30pm
to 6:30pm until Robin is freed.
Please feel free to contact Dawn M. O'Brien or myself for further
information, Dawn can be reached at: dawnobde@yahoo.com
--
For those who are interested, the chapter meeting of San Diego Veterans
For
Peace follows the vigil at 7:00pm, also on the first Tuesday
.
Our meeting place has moved, for February and most likely for a few
months,
it will be held in a conference room at the Coldwell Banker offices:
12036 Scripps Highland Dr
San Diego, CA 92131
Map link: MAP
Saturday October 11, 2008
WARS, ELECTIONS & EMPIRE AT THE CROSSROADS
A comprehensive San Diego symposium addressing vital and timely issues was held on October 11th, 2008. Please view the following video of Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz discussing "War, Empire & Everyday Life" and Marjorie Cohn discussing the current issues revolving around U.S. involvement in Afghanistan (introduced by Rick Greenblat).
(slightly abridged)
I've got some bad news.
My friends at the Courage Campaign asked me to convey it to you personally by email, given this community's activism against Blackwater over the last year.
Thursday, June 5th, after a federal judge cleared the way, Blackwater opened a large training facility in San Diego, just three blocks from the border that separates California and Mexico.
As you may know, I wrote a book ("Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army") chronicling how this dangerous private security corporation leveraged over $1 billion in taxpayer dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan to build an elite Praetorian Guard for the "global war on terror." Now, Blackwater is setting its sights on the so-called "war on drugs" and recently opened its own private CIA, called "Total Intelligence Solutions," marketing "CIA-type services" to Fortune 500 companies.
Blackwater is aggressively building up a parallel infrastructure to the U.S. national security apparatus as its owner, Erik Prince, promotes Blackwater as the "Federal Express" of the military industrial complex.
And now Blackwater has set up shop in California a stone's throw from the Tijuana International Airport. But this battle with Blackwater is not over. Grassroots activists in San Diego, led by relentless local groups like Citizens' Oversight Projects, Activist San Diego, and the Peace Resource Center of San Diego, are ramping up their campaign to shut down Blackwater's base of operations on the border.
Chris Hedges, the former Middle East Bureau Chief for the New York Times, brilliantly captures the threat that Blackwater represents to us in this excerpt from his review of my book:
"These hired guns... appeared on the streets of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. They operate, at home and abroad, beyond the bounds of legal constraints and are controlled by secretive puppet masters, such as Erik Prince, who have close ties to the radical Christian right.
Should our nation enter a period of instability following another terrorist attack on American soil, an economic collapse, or a series of environmental disasters, the tyranny that groups such as Blackwater impose on others could become the tyranny they impose on us. The rise of this unchecked mercenary force... could presage the final stage in the collapse of American democracy."
Those are harrowing words, I know. But this is not hyperbole -- it's reality. And that's why we need to spread the word that Blackwater has just opened a base of operations inside California. If we don't act soon to push these mercenaries out of California, the nightmare scenarios described above could be realized right before our eyes.
Thank you for taking time to read this message and send it to your friends.
Jeremy Scahill
P.S. If you are interested in reading more about Blackwater, and would like to buy my book, please consider making it a two-for-one action by making a donation to my good friends at the Courage Campaign.
If you contribute at least $50 to the Courage Campaign, I'll sign a copy of "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" and Courage will send it to you as soon as possible:
..............
The Courage Campaign is an online organizing network empowering nearly 100,000 members to make this a new era for progressive politics in California. In 2008, the Courage Campaign will work with grassroots and netroots activists to increase California's importance in the race for the White House, hold our elected officials accountable, and defeat the November initiative that would ban marriage equality.
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! PLEASE COME TO THE COUNCIL MEETINGS AND HELP US DEMONSTRATE THAT SAN DIEGANS DO NOT WANT BLACKWATER IN OUR COMMUNITY (OR ANYWHERE).
12th floor, 202 "C" Street
Downtown San Diego
More info on Blackwater: www.prcsd.org
Thank you for your support!
Peace Resource Center of San Diego and Activist San Diego
Below are the "strategic guidelines" as adopted by the Coalition at the June 19, 2006 meeting
San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice
Strategic Guidelines
The peace movement has experienced remarkable success in shaping public opinion with regard to the war on Iraq. Recent polls substantiate that nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose the war. Unfortunately, public sentiment has not been reflected in public policy. A disempowered Congress, a toothless media, and an unyielding administration bent on "staying the course" necessitate our finding new ways to engage with power. With this in mind, the San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice adopts the following guidelines to be used in the planning and implementation of future SDCPJ activities:
1) SDCPJ will engage in nonviolent activities
2) SDCPJ will engage in anti-war activities of high visibility
3) SDCPJ will engage in activities that increase the political costs of the war
4) SDCPJ will engage in activities that directly impede the administration’s ability to prosecute war
5) SDCPJ will plan and implement activities which reflect a high degree of moral outrage with the continuing occupation of Iraq
6) SDCPJ will carry out activities proportional to the crimes committed in Iraq
7) SDCPJ will engage in activities virtually assured to penetrate media blackout
8) SDCPJ will engage in activities that demand response from elected officials
9) SDCPJ will engage in activities that empower participants and challenge the climate of fear
10) SDCPJ will prioritize outreach to new groups and individuals, and the formation of new alliances
The San Diego Coalition for Peace & Justice welcomes your comments and ideas. Please email your thoughts to info@sdcpj.org
POSTED MONDAY, DECEMBER 20TH
Please see the document below (SDCPJ Statement) for the coalition's statement on NBC's revelation of the Pentagon's spying on counter-recruitment and anti-nuclear organizations.
You can see MSNBC's orginal article, including link to 8-page excerpt from Pentagon's database at:
The database itself is a secret 400-page Department of Defense document isting more than 1,500 "suspicious incidents" across the country over a recent 10-month period. The 8-page excerpt lists one San Diego event at the 32nd Street Naval Station. This event was a demonstration during the trial of Pablo Paredes.
Attend San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice Meetings
First Church of the Brethren, 3850 Westgate Place. Meetings are generally the first and third Monday of each month. If unsure, or for more information, call 619-263-9301 or email info@sdcpj.org.
