War Watch Wednesdays #114

 War Watch Wednesdays, #114,

114.  War Watch Wednesdays, #114, February 22, 2023
Anti-War Rally in DC: Report from Abel Tomlinson

FCNL and DRD: Repeal Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF)
John LaForge, NQ.  “Deterrencelessness: Nuclear Attack Readiness Unethical”

The Progressive Magazine v. Right Wing

Marcos Rosenmann.  US “Dying by Killing”

 

 

TEXTS

Hi Art,

 

Ed Heijtmanik, my wife Pauline & I drove to the event this weekend in D.C.  Fox News ran something positive about the event. Rachel Maddow of MSNBC ran a smear on it that was a lie-filled hit piece. She created the impression it was a bunch of right wing crazy people waving Russian flags. There were exactly 2 Russian flags.  Yes, there were some antiwar right wing libertarians there, but there were also a lot of left wing peace activists like us. She also repeatedly emphasized that it was very "small, small, small, small, small". There were a few thousand.  

 

We took lots of pictures of great signs.  I met many of my peace heroes, activists & journalists, Jill Stein, Dennis Kucinich, Medea Benjamin, Anne Wright, Joe Lauria-editor of Consortium News, Jeremy Kuzmarov-editor of Covert Action Magazine & more.  There were many great speeches from all these, Chris Hedges & more.

 

I have read a lot of criticism of the event, but it all falls flat in the face of the growing threat of nuclear war. Most of us came to simply say No More War, No Nuclear War.

 

Abel

 

Repeal Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF)

From FCNL
I wanted to follow up with the article I mentioned on the recent introduction of the 2002 AUMF repeal bills! Kevin Snow, who is the FCNL Program Assistant for Militarism and Human Rights, talks about the state of this issue in Congress and what actions advocates can take on it. https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2023-02/bipartisan-group-lawmakers-just-introduced-legislation-repeal-iraq-war

Reinforced by Defending Rights and Dissent: “Tell Congress: Close the door on forever wars!” Cody at Defending Rights & Dissent via uark.onmicrosoft.com

 

Dick, The Iraq War ended in 2011. The Gulf War in 1991. But the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF) still haunt us, waiting for an opportunistic president to invoke the authority to wage war against Iran or other targets with a vague nexus to Iraq. We can’t end forever wars with blank check authorizations still on the books. Congress must repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force Against Iraq - and prevent future unaccountable extensions of the War on Terror. In DC, the 2002 AUMF has picked up the nickname “Zombie Authorization.” But there remain real risks to open-ended justification for forever wars. Under a broad interpretation of the 2002 AUMF, the US military could wage war against Iran without authorization by Congress. This risk is not theoretical. In 2020, the Trump administration invoked the 2002 AUMF as partial legal justification for assassinating Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. An appalled Congress passed a joint resolution condemning this capacious interpretation of the 2002 AUMF, but the measure was vetoed by then-president Trump. Leaving the 2002 AUMF on the books leaves open the potential for the Executive Branch to conduct new drone strikes and other military actions without the approval of Congress. And much like the 2002 AUMF, the 1991 AUMF for the Gulf War remains on the books, disused yet ripe for abuse. Three decades after Desert Storm, it’s time to end this open-ended justification for war.  Congress must assert its war powers and repeal these dangerous relics of the War on Terror.  The last time we closed the door on a use of force authorization was over fifty years ago, when Congress voted to repeal the resolution passed after the Gulf of Tonkin - another lie that started a devastating war. The Iraq War, too, was started on a lie. It’s a symbolically resonant time for Congress to end the Iraq War - and the Gulf War - once and for all.  Tell Congress: Close the door on the Iraq wars - repeal the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs.    John LaForge.  “Deterrencelessness: Nuclear Attack Readiness Unethical, Incredible, Unviable, Needless.”  Nukewatch Quarterly (Fall 2022).  This is a brilliant refutation of US nuclear weapons policy.  I read it in NQ but cannot find the link.  Fortunately it was also published in other magazines:  22 Jul, 2022 Deterrencelessness: Nuclear Threats Neither Credible Nor Viable By John LaForge .   Peace Voice.  http://www.peacevoice.info/author/john-laforge/ Threatening to make attacks with nuclear weapons is known as “deterrence” when the United States does it, but it’s called madness, blackmail, or “terrorism” if Russia, China, or North Korea does. Continue Reading       The August-September 2020 no. of The Progressive contains several articles rejecting right wing thinking and behavior.  For example: Ruth Conniff.  “Democracy Slipping Away.”  “Rightwing forces have been playing a long game to take over….”  See Blum and Hightower.Supreme Court Bill Blum.  “The New Era of Rightwing Judicial Supremacy.” Jim Hightower.  “In  the Roberts Court, the People Be Damned.” Anticommunism/Soviet-Russophobia Mathew Foresta.  “Seeing Red: Florida’s Governor Boldly Takes on a Nonexistent Communist Threat.”  Journalists KilledDavid Boddiger.  “Laying Down Their Lives for the Truth.”  Remembering the past, the right wing’s long game, Sara Diamond:: Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States.1995. Facing the Wrath: Confronting the Right in Dangerous Times. 1996

Marcos Roitman Rosenmann.  “Dying by Killing: U.S. and its Manifest destiny.” Resumen: Latinoamericano and the Third World.  February 8, 2023. (Posted Feb 13, 2023). https://resumen-english.org/2023/02/dying-by-killing-us-and-its-manifest-destiny/    Empire, Imperialism, Inequality, StrategyAmericas, Global, United StatesNewswire

The fear of disappearing as a hegemonic power awakens the survival instinct. The United States (U.S.) has entered a dangerous drift, the end of which puts the future of humanity at risk. If a nuclear holocaust is on the horizon, it is no coincidence. The cultural reason of the West is facing its worst nightmare: being trapped in a war where it cannot see the way out. We are living the end of a historical stage, with many chiaroscuros. Genocides, holocausts, ethnocides, generalized deterioration of the environment, global warming and the stubbornness of the United States tying the European Union to its plans. A lot of testosterone and little head. No matter who the tenant of the White House is, in foreign policy, Republicans and Democrats act in unison. With pedestrian but effective arguments, they base their warmongering. They point out that they have been destined by Providence to be the champions of world peace. They are not belligerents, but in the event of an attack, they will respond with all their might and nuclear arsenal, if necessary. The American way of life must be preserved, as well as protecting the planet from communism and dissolving ideologies that threaten the family and deny God.