OMNI
ANTI-WAR, ANTI-IMPERIALISM, NEWSLETTER #4. January 25,
2015.
Compiled by Dick
Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology. (#1 April 2, 2012; #2 Jan. 18, 2013; #3 March
25, 2014).
What’s at stake:
HH Dalai Lama on Violence: ..."Of course, war and the large
military establishments are the greatest sources of violence in the world.
Whether their purpose is defensive or offensive, these vast powerful
organizations exist solely to kill human beings. We should think carefully
about the reality of war. Most of us have been conditioned to regard military
combat as exciting and glamorous - an opportunity for men to prove their
competence and courage. Since armies are legal, we feel that war is acceptable;
in general, nobody feels that war is criminal or that accepting it is criminal
attitude. In fact, we have been brainwashed. War is neither glamorous nor
attractive. It is monstrous. Its very nature is one of tragedy and
suffering" [I received this from a
stranger via Facebook, without source citation or any attempt to verify its
authenticity. –Dick]
These essays on
resisting US wars and imperialism and
the ideas and language used to rationalize them offer a collection of some of
the best writing on how to end the US War system. --Dick
My blog:
War Department/Peace Department
Newsletters
Index:
See: Authorization for Use of Armed Force,
Chemical War, “Collateral Damage” (Language of War), Consequences of War, Costs
of War, Genocide, Imperialism, Individual Wars, Lawlessness, Militarism,
Military-Industrial Complex, Nuclear Weapons and War, Pentagon (the War
Department), Profits of War, PTSD, Secrecy, Suicide, Support the Troops? Torture,
War as a Racket, War Crimes, War Department, War on Terror, War System, Wastes
of War, and many more topics.
Anti-cant: The word Cant
possesses many meanings, including insincere or hypocritical statements, esp.
pious platitudes. Merely verbal
opposition to war and praise of world peace are very often cant. So be cautious about saying you hate war
and are for peace, if you are not prepared to act against war, because people
will measure you by the discrepancy between your words and your deeds.
Nos. 1-3 at end.
Contents Anti-War Newsletter #4
AFFIRMATIVE
GOVERNMENT FOR PEACE
Veterans for
Peace, 3 Legislative Priorities
Kucinich, Be a
Force for Peace
MAKE PEACE NOT
WAR
Make Love Not
War Video
WWI Christmas
Truce 1914
ORGANIZE FOR
PEACE NOT WAR
Veterans for
Peace, DAYS for Peace Against War
Schlabach,
Build Just Policing as Alternative to
War
Stop US
Imperialism by Stopping Recruiting
Wittner, Do
Wars for Freedom Defend Freedom?
ABOLISH WAR A
CATHOLIC WAY
David Cochran, Catholic Realism and the Abolition of War
Tom Cornell:
Rev. of David Cochran, Catholic Realism
and the Abolition of
War
LOOK AT OUR
WARS
Invasion of
Panama
Fallows,
Examine Our Wars
Contact Senators
Cotton and Boozman
AFFIRMATIVE
GOVERNMENT FOR PEACE
VFP Legislative Update: Dick,
Establish a connection with Your Senator or Representative!
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January, 2015
Dear Dick,
The 114th Congress is
in session. Especially if you have a newly elected Senator or
Representative, now is a good time to establish a connection with them or
their staff who handle military or international affairs. Let
them know you want them to take the lead on the issues that matter to you and
to Veterans For Peace. The most direct way to do this is to call their D.C.
office and speak to them. It is also very likely that they're tracking
mentions of their names in letters to the editor. You can write
a Letter to the Editor of your local paper with this message and be
sure to include their names.
Based on our Mission
Statement, VFP’s three main legislative priorities remain the same and we
will continue to update you on legislative actions related to these areas.
·
END CURRENT WARS AND PREVENT FUTURE WARS:
o The
Senate is already active in trying to impose new sanctions on Iran which
would collapse ongoing nuclear negotiations. Call the Capitol at 202-
224-3121 and ask for your Senator’s office. Urge them to OPPOSE
the Menendez-Kirk Iran sanctions legislation. We want
negotiation, not war!
o Congress will
consider a new authorization for the use of military force against
the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) by the spring. We
can start now to call for no authorization. U.S. military intervention
has only led to new conflicts, it cannot solve them.
·
REDUCE AND REDISTRIBUTE MILITARY SPENDING: An estimated
100,000 people killed in Syria, Iraq, and Palestine in the past year. Many of
the deaths were the result of direct U.S. military action, weapons transfers,
military aid to allies, and support for proxy armies and militias. We will
track the budget process throughout the year to limit that spending whenever
possible.
·
HEAL THE WOUNDS OF WAR IN U.S. VETERANS AND OVERSEAS: We will
monitor efforts to reform the Veterans Administration and improve care for
all vets. Another major VFP concern is justice for all who were exposed
to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War - U.S. and Vietnamese alike.
This year is already
shaping up to be an important time for war and peace. Calls for more
U.S. intervention in the "Middle East" are growing and warmongers
are increasing their fear tactics to push people both in Europe and the U.S.
towards more war. At this time, the voice of Veterans For Peace is
critical. Make sure your voice is heard.
Let us know about
your efforts to influence policy and what your concerns are.
Michael T. McPhearson Veterans For Peace, 1404 North Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102, 314-725-6005 www.veteransforpeace.org |
Kucinich:
Weary Nation 'Must Not Cede to Forces of Destruction'
by
Deirdre Fulton. Common Dreams, Nov. 22,
2014.
Former
congressman says that despite grim political realities, a new paradigm is still
possible for those willing to fight for it. http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/11/20/kucinich-weary-nation-must-not-cede-forces-destruction
MAKE
LOVE MAKE TRUCE NOT WAR
SUN, 02
FEBRUARY 2014 AT 9:05 PM
Axe Peace Super Bowl Commercial
2014 (Video) - Make Love Not War!
http://www.justjared.com/2014/02/02/axe-peace-super-bowl-commercial-2014-video-make-love-not-war/
One of the surprisingly poignant commercials that aired during
the 2014 Super Bowl was courtesy
of AXE Peacebody spray.
“In a world filled with war, the greatest weapon is love. Make
love, not war with new AXE Peace,” the caption for the video read along with
the hashtag #KissForPeace.
The commercial depicts things happening around the world that
seem to be dangerous, such as armed forces preparing their weapons for war, but
then everything suddenly turns into peacefulness. This was such a powerful
commercial!
WHAT DID YOU THINK of the Axe Make Love Not War
commercial?
AXE PEACE | Make Love, Not War
CHRISTMAS
TRUCE, WWI 1914
While preparing
his book, To End All Wars, Adam
Hochschild traveled the still-scarred land of WWI in Europe. “The thin band of territory stretching
through northern France and this corner of Belgium has the greatest
concentration of young men’s graves in the world. . . .Today there are more
than 2,000 British cemeteries alone in France and Belgium, cared for by almost
500 gardeners.” But he found “only a
single memorial celebrating anyone for doing something other than fighting or
dying,” and that one--small, unattended--was “in memory of the soldiers from
both sides who took part in the Christmas Truce of 1914.” So Hochschild imagines “another cemetery, of
all those who understood the war’s madness enough not to take part,” and he wonders
who would lie there. It would be
international in scope. Eugene V. Debs
from the US, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht from Germany, E. D. Morel from
England. Keir Hardie, Jean Jaures,
Bertrand Russell. “ Stephen Hobhouse and
the more than 6,000 other British conscientious objectors who went to
prison.” And many soldiers, including
the French troops who mutinied in 1917 and the German sailors who refused
orders to sail near war’s end. What is
Hochschild’s point? These dead heroes
for peace were not confident they would win their struggle, but rather knew
they would not, yet stood firm to “honor the best of human nature” and prepare
the day when all would feel with Alice Wheeldon in her prison cell, “the world
is my country.”
ORGANIZE
FOR PEACE: A Calendar and Three Essays
Waging
Peace and Justice: July-August 2014
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“The challenge remains. On
the other side are formidable forces: money, political power, major media. On our side are the people of the
world and a power greater than money or weapons: the truth.”
-Howard
Zinn
Waging
Peace and Justice
July
2014-August 2014
In
June, Veterans For Peace took to the streets to raise our voices against U.S. military
intervention in Iraq. On June 19th, Veterans For Peace hosted
a national press conference in Washington D.C, where Iraq Veterans Against the War andMilitary Families Speak Out voiced their concerns and
opinions. Major media covered the conference, and a number of articles
came out as a result. Check out the compiled list of
articles about this conference. In
the weeks following, chapters have hosted rallies and protests in their local
communities to educate on this serious situation that faces us. We have
gained a lot of national press around these actions, so we know that they are
taking notice of our actions. Great work to all!
Much
of July will focus on preparation for the 29th national convention. “Peace or Perish
Abolish War on Planet and Poor” was chosen as the theme to tie together the
many issues that result as a product of endless war. Although we
can’t all be present at convention this year, we can work to bring this theme
to light throughout this month and the rest of the year. As we all know
too well, many of the problems facing us at home can be directly linked to an
ongoing state of war. The state of poverty, the student-debt crisis,
rising gas prices, violence in our streets, increased privacy concerns, the
militarization of police and borders, and so many other issues are interrelated
and impacted by militarism and the draining of national resources to conduct
war. With summertime comes community events, festivals, and gatherings
that give us a chance to educate our neighbors in a social setting.
As we move into August, a
number of historical days bring another opportunity: to link together the past
mistakes with the current situations. We must ask the difficult questions
and spark conversation: Are we going down the same path that we took in WWI? Are our
leaders making the same mistakes to draw us into Iraq again? Are we repeating
the same foreign policy decision from past was such a disaster in Vietnam?
Together, we can bring the important message of peace to the streets.
Together, we can push forward the change we seek by pressuring our leaders and
demanding accountability to what the people demand.
Upcoming Dates:
Below
you will find suggested dates and actions that you can support in the upcoming
months related to VFP's ongoing work. If you have any additional dates
that should be added to our calendar, please e-mail national office:casey@veteransforpeace.org
July 23rd
10 Year Anniversary of IVAWIraq Veterans Against the War
(IVAW) was founded in
July 2004 at the Veterans For Peace (VFP) Annual Convention in Boston
July 23rd-27th
VFP National Convention in Asheville ,
NC
The
Veterans For Peace 29th Annual Convention will be held at the University of North Carolina
at Asheville , NC
July 27th: Day in History
Anniversary of Signing of Korean Armistice
After
three years of a bloody and frustrating war, the United States, the
People's Republic of China, North Korea, and South Korea agree to an armistice,
bringing the Korean War to an
end on July 27th 1953 . Much time has passed, but the US is still fighting the longest undeclared war
in its history in Korea ,
with some 30,000 soldiers stationed in South Korea
July 28th: Day in History
On July 28, 1914, one month
to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo ,
Austria-Hungary declares war
on Serbia
August 2nd: Day in History
50th Anniversary of Gulf of Tonkin
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident was two separate confrontations
involving North Vietnam and
the U.S. in the waters of the Gulf of
Tonkin on August 2, 1964 and
August 4, 1964. Johnson proceeded quickly to authorize retaliatory
air strikes against North
Vietnam United States Tonkin
incident became available, many concluded that Johnson and his advisers had
misled Congress into supporting the expansion of the war.
August 6th: Day in History
On
August 6th, an American B-29 bomber, dropped the world's first atom bomb,
over the city of Hiroshima
August 9th: Day in History
On
this day in 1945, a second atom bomb is dropped on Japan by the United States , at Nagasaki ,
resulting finally in Japan
August 10th: Victims of Agent Orange Commemoration
Day
August 10th is a day to remember the
victims of Agent Orange. This is an opportunity to participate and
educate about the VFP Vietnam Full Disclosure campaign.
August 19th: World Humanitarian Day
World
Humanitarian Day falls on August 19th, the day in 2003 when 22 aid
workers were killed in a bombing at the UN headquarters in Baghdad
August 26th: Day in History
Women Gained the Right to Vote
It
took activists and reformers nearly 100 years to gain women the right to vote,
and the campaign was not easy. On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the
Constitution was finally ratified, enfranchising American women and declaring
for the first time that they, like men, deserve all the rights and
responsibilities of citizenship.
August 29th: UN International Day against Nuclear
Tests
Since
nuclear weapons testing began in the mid-twentieth century, there has been
little consideration of the devastating effects of testing on human life, let
alone the understanding of nuclear fallout from atmospheric tests. Hindsight
and history have shown us the terrifying and tragic effects of nuclear weapons
testing, especially when controlled conditions go awry, and in light of today’s
nuclear weapons which are far more powerful and destructive. The International Day against
Nuclear Tests is a day
in which educational events, activities and messages aim to capture the world’s
attention and underscore the need for a unified attempt in preventing further
nuclear weapons testing.
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Address postal inquiries to:
Veterans For Peace
Just Policing, Not War
An Alternative Response to World
Violence
Gerald W.
Schlabach, Editor; Foreword by Jim Wallis.
2007.
2008
Catholic Press Association Honorable Mention!
For decades, the Catholic Church and historical peace churches
such as the Mennonites have come together in ecumenical discussions about war
and peace. The dividing point has always been between pacifism, the view held
by Mennonites and other peace churches, and the just war theory that dominates
Catholic thinking on the issue. Given the transformation of global relations
over this period—increased interdependency and communication as well as the
fall of the Soviet Union, emerging nationalism movements, and the slow
development of international courts—the time is right to rethink the Christian
response to war.
Gerald
Schlabach has proposed just policing theory as a way to narrow the gap between
just war and pacifist traditions. If the world can address problems of violence
through a police model instead of a conventional military model, there may be a
role for Christians from all traditions. In this volume, Schlabach presents his theory
and has invited a number of scholars representing Catholic, Mennonite, and
other traditions to respond to the theory and address a number of key
questions:
- What do
we mean by policing?
- Can
policing solve conflicts beyond one’s own borders?
- How does
just policing theory address terrorism?
- Is
international policing possible, and what would it look like?
- Is just
policing a Christian solution that meets the criteria of both traditions?
This important volume offers
a fresh and meaningful discussion to help Christians of all traditions navigate
the difficult questions of how to live in these times of violence and war.
Gerald W. Schlabach, PhD, is associate
professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota,
where he teaches courses in social ethics and Christian morality. He has
written on topics ranging from peace, social justice, and nonviolence to
Augustinian thought, Benedictine spirituality, and the Eucharist.
COUNTER-RECRUITMENT
See my notes on the soldier whose book was used for One Book, who
did not acknowl. the youth had an option—not to enlist.
Counter-recruitment is a critical strategy against the influence
that ROTC and US military recruiters have on young people in their schools and
communities. Distributing these resources at schools, counseling offices, job
fairs, events, community centers, and recruiter offices can bust myths about
military life while opening an alternate path for young people to end the cycle
of militarism.
The Military is Not Just a Job, It’s 8 Years of Your Life
Produced by Project YANO, this recently updated pamphlet is absolutely essential for anyone that is considering joining the military. Available in both English and Spanish.
The Military is Not Just a Job is just $0.15 each up to 99, or $0.12 each for 100+, plus shipping!
Produced by Project YANO, this recently updated pamphlet is absolutely essential for anyone that is considering joining the military. Available in both English and Spanish.
The Military is Not Just a Job is just $0.15 each up to 99, or $0.12 each for 100+, plus shipping!
Know Before You Go, 'Cause There's No Reset Button
A collaboration with the Ya-Ya Network (Youth Activists-Youth Allies), this leaflet breaks down the myths of enlistment, life and injustices in the military, and stop-loss. Created by youth, it is accessible to everyone!
Know Before You Go, 'Cause There's No Reset Button is just $0.15 each, plus shipping!
A collaboration with the Ya-Ya Network (Youth Activists-Youth Allies), this leaflet breaks down the myths of enlistment, life and injustices in the military, and stop-loss. Created by youth, it is accessible to everyone!
Know Before You Go, 'Cause There's No Reset Button is just $0.15 each, plus shipping!
What Every Girl Should Know About the US Military
COMING SOON! Keep your eyes out for an updated version of this pamphlet, to be released in 2015 with exciting new gender justice perspectives!
By Lawrence S. Wittner, History News Network, posted
November 16
A CATHOLIC WAY TO
ABOLISH WAR
·
Description
·
Book Details
·
Reviews
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Send To Friend
Argues that the same social forces that have opposed and
overturned other modes of violence can also end war.
Is war an inevitable and
inescapable reality of the human condition? While arguments in favor of
the judicious use of warfare (such as just war theory) often rely on what seem
like "commonsense" or realistic attitudes toward the necessity of
violence in an imperfect world, other forms of institutionalized violence, such
as vendettas and duels, slavery, and lynching, were also often accepted as
commonplace in American society.
Through a gradual and
reinforcing process of changing social attitudes as well as public policies,
Cochran argues, humanity can move toward the eventual elimination of war as an
acceptable form of violence just as it has moved, albeit slowly and unevenly,
toward the abolition of these other forms of institutional violence.
"If the causes of conflict resolution and
Christian peacemaking are to gain ground in the coming decades, this progress
will depend upon the kind of keen analysis that Cochran offers in this splendid
book."--Thomas
Massaro, S.J., Dean
and Professor of Moral Theology, Jesuit
School of Theology of Santa Clara University
David Cochran teaches politics and directs the Archbishop
Kucera Center
for Catholic Intellectual and Spiritual Life at Loras
College in Dubuque , Iowa
Tom
Cornell: Rev. of David Cochran, Catholic
Realism and the Abolition of War, in The
Catholic Worker (May 2014). Cornell offers several objections to
Cochran’s optimism, but they do not substantially alter his high regard for the
book, which “demolishes the ‘just
war’ arguments of the neo-conservatives” and offers hope of abolishing war just
as we have abolished other destructive social constructs, such as
lynching. “This book should be a standard in college
and university courses on moral theology.”
--Dick.
LOOK AT OUR WARS (see Newsletters 1-3)
WILLIAM
BLUM, KILLING HOPE and ROGUE
STATE. The details of the over 40
illegal, unnecessary interventions and invasions by the US after WWII.
By Greg Grandin, TomDispatch.com,
posted December 21
Tomgram: Greg Grandin, How the Iraq War Began in Panama
Tomgram: Greg Grandin, How the Iraq War Began in Panama
Posted by Greg
Grandin at 5:00pm, December
21, 2014.
Follow TomDispatch on Twitter @TomDispatch.
Follow TomDispatch on Twitter @TomDispatch.
[For intro. by TomDispatch and
Grandin’s full essay: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175937 --Dick]
As we end another year of endless war in Washington, it might be
the perfect time to reflect on the War That Started All Wars -- or at least the
war that started all of Washington’s post-Cold War wars: the invasion of
Panama.
Twenty-five years ago this month, early on the morning of
December 20, 1989, President George H.W. Bush launched Operation Just Cause,
sending tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of aircraft into Panama to
execute a warrant of arrest against its leader, Manuel Noriega, on charges of
drug trafficking. Those troops quickly secured all important strategic
installations, including the main airport in Panama City, various military
bases, and ports. Noriega went into hiding before surrendering on January 3rd
and was then officially extradited to the United States to stand trial. Soon
after, most of the U.S. invaders withdrew from the country.
In and out. Fast and simple. An entrance plan and an exit
strategy all wrapped in one. And it worked, making Operation Just Cause one of
the most successful military actions in U.S. history. At least in tactical
terms.
There were casualties.
More than 20 U.S. soldiers were killed and 300-500 Panamanian combatants died
as well. Disagreement exists over how many civilians perished. Washington
claimed that few died. In the “low hundreds,” the
Pentagon’s Southern Command said. But others
charged that U.S. officials didn’t bother to count the dead in El Chorrillo, a poor Panama Citybarrio that U.S. planes indiscriminately bombed because it was thought to be a bastion of support for
Noriega. Grassroots human-rights organizations claimed thousands of civilians were killed and
tens of thousands displaced.
See my article,
James R. Bennett, “The U.S. Media Submit to Censorship in the Grenada, Panama, and Iraq Invasions.” St.
Louis Journalism Review (Dec. 1992-Jan. 2993), 16-17. --Dick
Against US
Stupid Wars
“The
Tragedy of the American Military”
The
American public and its political leadership will do anything for the military
except take it seriously. The result is a chickenhawk nation in which careless
spending and strategic folly combine to lure America into endless wars it can’t
win. "The Tragedy of the American
Military" By James
Fallows, The Atlantic, posted December 31, 2014.
For full
essay go to http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/12/the-tragedy-of-the-american-military/383516/
If any of my fellow travelers at O’Hare
were still listening to [Obama’s] speech, none of them showed any reaction to
it. And why would they? This has become the way we assume the American military
will be discussed by politicians and in the press: Overblown, limitless praise,
absent the caveats or public skepticism we would apply to other American
institutions, especially ones that run on taxpayer money. A somber moment to
reflect on sacrifice. Then everyone except the few people in uniform getting on
with their workaday concerns.
The public attitude evident in the
airport was reflected by the public’s representatives in Washington. That same
afternoon, September 17, the House of Representatives voted after brief debate
to authorize arms and supplies for rebel forces in Syria, in hopes that more of
them would fight against the Islamic State, or ISIS, than for it. The Senate did the
same the next day—and then both houses adjourned early, after an unusually
short and historically unproductive term of Congress, to spend the next six and
a half weeks fund-raising and campaigning full-time. I’m not aware of any
midterm race for the House or Senate in which matters of war and peace—as
opposed to immigration, Obamacare, voting rights, tax rates, the Ebola
scare—were first-tier campaign issues on either side, except for the
metaphorical “war on women” and “war on coal.”
For the full essay: http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/12/the-tragedy-of-the-american-military/383516/
RECENT OMNI NEWSLETTERS. Look at these subjects. All relate some more some less to US
militarism and imperialism, to US permanent war-making.
MLKJR DAY, 1-20
Iran
#25, 1-17
Cuba
#4, 1-16
Vegetarian
Action #15, 1-14
Democracy
#3, 1-12
Flag
Patriotism #2, 1-9
Fossil
Fuels #3, 1-4
CONTACT ARKANSAS
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Boozman, John -
(R - AR)
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Class III
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320 Hart Senate Office Building
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(202) 224-4843
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Contents of #1
Antiwar.com
Amy Goodman
Hochschild on
WWI
Hedges, Myth of
War
Contents Anti-War Newsletter #2
Dick: North American Directory
5 ANTI-WAR
ORGANIZATIONS
HAW Annual
Conference
Veterans for
Peace
Military
Families Speak Out
Citizen
Soldier: www.citizen-soldier.org
War Resisters
League
INDIVIDUALS
Howard Zinn for
Truth, Justice, Peace
Giffey,
Veterans’ Paths to Peace in Many Wars
HISTORY
NBC, War as
Entertainment
 |
Anti-War Newsletter #3
Introduction,
Dick: Think Global, Act Local , Act
Global [read Pierce on AUMF in
Lawlessness newsletter #2]
Pope Francis
David Swanson, War No More
Brayton
Shanley: The Many Sides of Peace, Living
the Agape Community Way
Lendman: Francis Boyle, Protesting Power, a Lawyer Defends Dissenters (Iran
Kathy Kelly,
Our Vocation to Abolish War
Winslow Myers,
Living Beyond Wars
Ann Wright: vs.
Iraq
Refusing
Military Service: 2 Books
Kohn: History
of Draft Violators
Kovac: WWII, COs , Public Service Camps
History: Who Goes to US Wars?
Keith, WWI,
Southern US Poor Man’s War
Satire on
Vietnam War
Lewin, Report from Iron Mountain
END ANTI-WAR NEWSLETTER #4 January 25, 2015
