Category Archives: Clarence Kailin Chapter 25

Lanterns for Peace 2020

Join us from your home for this family friendly event to commemorate the lives lost in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings 75 years ago and make sure that such nuclear attacks never again take place. We remember the past, so that we can envision and work for a peaceful, just and nuclear-free future. Due to COVID-19, there will be no public gathering for Lanterns for Peace but we will still be holding a lantern launch streamed online.

Lanterns for Peace 2020 Youtube Video

Lanterns for Peace: Physicians for Social Responsibility-Wisconsin

 

 

The use of nuclear weapons is a war crime.  The use of nuclear weapons violates multiple parts of the Laws of Armed Conflict.

“Visitors to the National Air and Space Museum—America’s shrine to the technological leading edge of the military industrial complex—hear a familiar narrative from the tour guides in front of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped an atomic weapon on the civilians of Hiroshima 70 years ago today.

The bomb was dropped, they say, to save the lives of thousands of Americans who would otherwise have been killed in an invasion of the Home Islands. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were largely destroyed and the lives of between 135,000 and 300,000 mostly Japanese women, children, and old people were sacrificed—most young men were away at war—as the result of a terrible but morally just calculus aimed at bringing an intractable war to a close.

This story may assuage the conscience of the air museum visitor, but it is largely myth, fashioned to buttress our memories of the “good” war. By and large, the top generals and admirals who managed World War II knew better. Consider the small and little-noticed plaque hanging in the National Museum of the US Navy that accompanies the replica of “Little Boy,” the weapon used against the people of Hiroshima: In its one paragraph, it makes clear that Truman’s “political advisors” overruled the military in determining the way in which the end of the war in Japan would be approached. Furthermore, contrary to the popular myths around the atomic bomb’s nearly magical power to end the war, the Navy Museum’s explication of the history clearly indicates that “the vast destruction wreaked by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the loss of 135,000 people made little impact on the Japanese military.”
Indeed, it would have been surprising if they had: Despite the terrible concentrated power of atomic weapons, the firebombing of Tokyo earlier in 1945 and the destruction of numerous Japanese cities by conventional bombing had killed far more people. The Navy Museum acknowledges what many historians have long known: It was only with the entry of the Soviet Union’s Red Army into the war two days after the bombing of Hiroshima that the Japanese moved to finally surrender. Japan was used to losing cities to American bombing; what their military leaders feared more was the destruction of the country’s military by an all-out Red Army assault.

The top American military leaders who fought World War II, much to the surprise of many who are not aware of the record, were quite clear that the atomic bomb was unnecessary, that Japan was on the verge of surrender, and—for many—that the destruction of large numbers of civilians was immoral. Most were also conservatives, not liberals. Adm. William Leahy, President Truman’s Chief of Staff, wrote in his 1950 memoir I Was There that “the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender.… in being the first to use it, we…adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children.”

The commanding general of the US Army Air Forces, Henry “Hap” Arnold, gave a strong indication of his views in a public statement only eleven days after Hiroshima was attacked. Asked on August 17 by a New York Times reporter whether the atomic bomb caused Japan to surrender, Arnold said that “the Japanese position was hopeless even before the first atomic bomb fell, because the Japanese had lost control of their own air.”

Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet, stated in a public address at the Washington Monument two months after the bombings that “the atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely military standpoint, in the defeat of Japan…” Adm. William “Bull” Halsey Jr., Commander of the US Third Fleet, stated publicly in 1946 that “the first atomic bomb was an unnecessary experiment…. It was a mistake to ever drop it…. [the scientists] had this toy and they wanted to try it out, so they dropped it…”

Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, for his part, stated in his memoirs that when notified by Secretary of War Henry Stimson of the decision to use atomic weapons, he “voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives…” He later publicly declared “…it wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing.” Even the famous “hawk” Maj. Gen. Curtis LeMay, head of the Twenty-First Bomber Command, went public the month after the bombing, telling the press that “the atomic bomb had nothing to do with the end of the war at all.”
The record is quite clear: From the perspective of an overwhelming number of key contemporary leaders in the US military, the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not a matter of military necessity. American intelligence had broken the Japanese codes, knew the Japanese government was trying to negotiate surrender through Moscow, and had long advised that the expected early August Russian declaration of war, along with assurances that Japan’s Emperor would be allowed to stay as a powerless figurehead, would bring surrender long before the first step in a November US invasion, three months later, could begin.

Historians still do not have a definitive answer to why the bomb was used. Given that US intelligence advised the war would likely end if Japan were given assurances regarding the Emperor—and given that the US military knew it would have to keep the Emperor to help control occupied Japan in any event—something else clearly seems to have been important. We do know that some of President Truman’s closest advisers viewed the bomb as a diplomatic and not simply a military weapon. Secretary of State James Byrnes, for instance, believed that the use of atomic weapons would help the United States more strongly dominate the postwar era. According to Manhattan Project scientist Leo Szilard, who met with him on May 28, 1945, “[Byrnes] was concerned about Russia’s postwar behavior…[and thought] that Russia might be more manageable if impressed by American military might, and that a demonstration of the bomb might impress Russia.

”History is rarely simple, and confronting it head-on, with critical honesty, is often quite painful. Myths, no matter how oversimplified or blatantly false, are too often far more likely to be embraced than inconvenient and unsettling truths.

Even now, for instance, we see how difficult it is for the average US citizen to come to terms with the brutal record of slavery and white supremacy that underlies so much of our national story. Remaking our popular understanding of the “good” war’s climactic act is likely to be just as hard. But if the Confederate battle flag can come down in South Carolina, we can perhaps one day begin to ask ourselves more challenging questions about the nature of America’s global power, and what is true and what is false about why we really dropped the atomic bomb on Japan.”

Eken Park Resists the Military Industrial Complex

Eken Park Resistance Group Letter

If you’d like to learn more,or sign on in support… please be in touch with Eken Park Resistance at
[email protected] 
Dear Community Leaders,In April, our neighborhood learned that we face a bleak future––one that will disproportionately impact those of us who are people of color, low income, and children, and leave our homes “incompatible for residential use.”

F-35 Joint Strike Fighters will soon rip through the place we live and love: Eken Park.

We know from personal experience that there is reason to be very afraid. When the current F-16s takeoff or maneuver overhead, our children cover their ears and scream. The aircraft are dangerously loud. Everyone agrees, even the Air Force, that the F-35s will be worse.

It isn’t our small homes, backyards, swing sets, neighbors, or kids that are incompatible for residential use. We do have a corrosive force in our community––but it isn’t us.

The Air National Guard violates nearly every value our progressive community claims to uphold. It is everything we strive to overcome.

It has polluted––perhaps permanently––our lakes and drinking water with PFAS “forever” chemicals. The DNR has found it in violation of spill and environmental remediation laws.

With at least six instances of sexual assault and harrasment against female members of the 115th Fighter Wing’s Security Forces Squadron, the Air National Guard is a hive of violence against women. When someone tried to stop it, they were met with retaliation and reprisal.

And now, the result of a disgracefully undemocratic process, Madison may be subjected to a squadron of immoral machines, monuments to mass violence and corporate power. At this moment of pandemic and economic collapse, each of us knows the F-35s are a tragic misuse of resources. We need that money for the health of our families, community, and planet.

Neighbors: let’s stand together to stop this blight. The F-35s are not inevitable.

Community leaders: this is a test of your progressive values. Do everything you can. Creatively and vigorously use our collective power and resources––legal, financial, and otherwise––to protect us.

The Air National Guard is incompatible for residential use. It’s time we tell them to leave.

Eken Park Resistance Group Letter 

Over 500 Join in Parade Opposing War Profiteers & F-35 Weapons Threatening Madison

Wisconsin State Journal  |  Saturday, February 29, 2020  |  Howard Hardee  
*Headline – Brad Geyer of VFP-Madison

Picture by Paul McMahon

Veterans for Peace-Madison Statement in Support of Opposition of F-35’s

“A chant of “take your planes and go away” grew in intensity as several hundred protesters temporarily blocked Anderson Street near Madison Area Technical College early Saturday afternoon.

A passing driver honked along to the beat, adding to the festive atmosphere. Keeping pace with swinging big-band music from the Forward Marching Band, protesters of all ages, including whole families, held signs reading “Noisy polluting jets,” “Tell the truth,” “No nukes,” and simply, “No!” 

The march was organized by the Safe Skies Clean Water Coalition, a grassroots organization that opposes basing a squadron of $90 million F-35 fighter jets at Truax Field in Madison. The protesters peacefully marched from the intersection of Anderson and Wright streets to outside the base of the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing.

Steve Lyrene, of Madison, said he joined the protest because he believes the planes would be “noisy and polluting” and a symbol of “America’s aggression and warlike presence.”

“That’s not what Madison is,” he said. “We’re not a warlike people, and we don’t want to push people out of established housing.”

 

 

 

It isn’t just the noise that concerns opponents of the F-35s. The Safe Skies coalition has decried the potential environmental impacts of construction in areas contaminated with hazardous PFAS chemicals; the cost of the F-35s relative to domestic needs such as education and employment; the capability of the planes to deliver nuclear payloads; and the potential displacement of low-income families and people of color who live close to Truax Field.

Picture by Paul McMahon

Madison remains the top choice among five Air Guard bases under consideration, despite impacts to local housing and the environment outlined in a final environmental impact statement released Feb. 19.

Those in favor of basing the F-35s in Madison, including the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, say the squadron would boost the local economy, create dozens of jobs, and keep the 115th Fighter Wing and its estimated $99 million annual economic impact at Truax Field.

Ald. Grant Foster, whose 15th District would be one of the most affected by increased noise at Truax Field, was watching the protest march from the opposite sidewalk. For the second time, he and Ald. Rebecca Kemble, 18th District, will introduce a resolution opposing the F-35s during Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Foster said. The resolution will likely be up for discussion during the council’s March 17 meeting.

“I don’t see how anybody can stand by and say this is a good idea, based on the final (environmental impact statement),” Foster said.

Foster said he was somewhat disappointed by Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway’s recent statement about the F-35s — specifically, that where they will be based is a federal decision, not a local one.

That’s why some protesters expressed feeling like wheels are turning somewhere out of reach.

 

“I get that impression,” Lyrene said. “There’s this sense of powerlessness, like we don’t have a voice. It’s sad that people aren’t being listened to. But that’s why we’re doing this — to make our voices heard.”

Vicki Berenson, a member of Clean Skies, doesn’t believe the F-35s are a done deal.

“It’s totally not a foregone conclusion,” she said. “We just don’t know what the answer will be.”

The final environmental impact statement was published in the Federal Register on Friday. After a 30-day review period ending in late March, a final decision will be issued by Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett.

Find the background data and facts on our concerns at Safe Skies Website

Photographs marked are from Paul McMahon

Heartland Images Photography,  4317 Tokay Blvd

Madison WI  53711 608-215-5031 (cell)

Photos:  www.flickr.com/photos/heartlandimages

Bio:  www.linkedin.com/in/heartlandimages

Hundreds march on Truax Field to protest basing F-35s in Madison

Veterans for Peace-Madison stands with Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin and the concerned citizens engaged in the struggle. We oppose F-35’s coming to Madison, we oppose F-35’s anywhere and we oppose the war machine and its crimes. 

We oppose the racism and systemic racism that forces brown, black, natives and the poor to sacrifice their health and quality of life so that corrupt politicians can enrich the billionaire owners of Lockheed Martin and the corporate rulers connected to the Chamber of Commerce: US Chamber and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.  We oppose the effect that these jets and the military will have on children. 

We must not allow the pollution of our water and soil to continue while the US government avoids accountability for around 80 years of PFAS forever chemical pollution and burn pits. This has poisoned much of Monona and Madison’s groundwater.

The F-35A, is a combination stealth fighter and bomber and can carry several B61 nuclear bombs with a range of less than one kiloton of explosive mayhem to 50 kilotons. That seems to be a lot of environmental impact, when compared to the 12-kiloton bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Is the hundreds of billions dollar cost of this latest child of the military-industrial complex worth it? As a low-flying stealth bomber capable of carrying nukes, it is an extremely risky and potentially destabilizing war machine in an already unstable world, whether you consider the Middle East, the near east, or the far east. One error in deciphering a tense situation could set off a nuclear tit-for-tat that would produce the worst environmental impact statement of all.

One only has to read nuclear war planner Dan Ellsberg’s recent “The Doomsday Machine” to learn of the horrors American cities could experience, and that we have been living on the brink.

The Pentagon has hyped the F-35 as a “computer that happens to fly,” and Lockheed Martin says there are 8 million lines of software code which control weapons deployment, communications, radar and flight controls. Given the extent of computer hacking continuously going on, what could anyone have to fear with a flying computer carrying nuclear weapons?

Veterans for Peace works to end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons, and to abolish war as an instrument of national policy. We do not want to see nuclear-enabled stealth fighter bombers stationed here in Madison — or anywhere, for that matter. 

The cost of F-35 fighter jets, Lockheed Martin calls it the “F-35 Joint Strike Fighter,” is phenomenal and will be paid by taxpayers. A recent book – Preventing War and Promoting Peace: A Guide for Health Professionals – tells that Lockheed Martin claims that parts of the F-35 are “built in forty-five states.” That makes it possible for politicians across the U.S. to claim that the F-35 and, therefore, the defense industry, will produce jobs everywhere. Compared to needed civilian jobs that could be funded for much less taxpayer money, the sum for F-35s is enormous and the jobs to be produced are few.

Lockheed Martin is the lead contractor for F-35s, and “…the world’s largest defense contractor,” according to the book, edited by William Wiist and Shelley White.

“With a (current) price tag of $1.4 trillion per plane…[F-35] has become the most expensive weapon system in history…punctuated by reports of one malfunction after another, from flaws in the fuel tanks that made the planes vulnerable to lightning-caused fires, to criticism of its maneuverability….”

The F-35 program is projected to use most of the U.S. budget for aircraft through 2030, the authors write.

The size of the US military machine is massive and currently causes more violence than it prevents. The US has far more bases, jets, aircraft carriers than anyone. Our military spending is more than the next seven nations combined. We do not need F-35’s for defense. This is war profiteering and imperialism.

None of the effects on human beings were improved in the final Environmental Impact Statement, in fact, the US government made no effort to alleviate the impacts. The money is there to protect people, the choice is made to serve the war profiteers and harm the people.

For Peace & Justice,

Bradley J. Geyer

Monday Noon – Vigil for Peace – Anniversary: 2 Dec 2019

PDF of document: Vigil for Peace WK 1652 12.02.2019 

VIGIL FOR PEACE Mondays Noon-1P

Corner MLK Jr. Blvd. & Doty St. Madison City-Cty. Bldg.

WK 1652 12.02.2019 JOIN US!

 

The Vigil for Peace, on this first Monday of December, is celebrating thirty-eight years (1981-2019) of presence in the Downtown Madison public square speaking out as, “. . . We become, by our presence, a voice for justice.” FG

We remember our deceased vigilers: Charlotte S., Karin S., Lars P., Jackson T.

 

“I vigil for peace and for peaceful solutions to our climate emergency. I vigil because I believe humanity must change and transcend its current military and economic culture in order to survive.” – Kathleen C.

“I am a “newbie” at the Monday noon vigil. I have been participating for
almost two years. I “Vigil” as a witness standing in solidarity with the others who
are here. We share information about important social issues that need our
attention and action. We become, by our presence, a voice for justice. We offer
information in printed form to those who pass by and interact with those driving
vehicles inviting them to “honk for peace” and draw their attention to a witness
here on the corner of Doty and MLK Jr. Blvd. It is one of the ways I have to
“stand up and be counted.” – Frank G.

 

“It has been my privilege to be a participant at the Vigil for Peace for seven years now. Being timid by nature, I still feel a little uncomfortable standing there on the corner holding up a peace sign. Several factors keep me coming to the vigil most every Monday noon:

  • It is one way I can respond, even in a small way, to the disturbing and seemingly persistent news about the violence, corruption, and destruction happening on our precious planet.
  • It is heartwarming to hear the occasional “beeps for peace” from motorists as they drive by, or see them hold up their hand in a peace symbol. Also it’s rewarding to have pedestrians say “keep up the good work” or “thank you for being here” every week.
  • I am inspired and encouraged by my fellow vigil participants who I consider to be stalwart peacemakers – models of hope and persistence and a faith that peace will dwell on our earth someday. I am proud to stand among them as an ongoing “presence for peace” on this corner made special by it’s proximity to the city, county and state seats of governance!” – Marge L.

“Why I vigil, whenever I have the opportunity: I stand with others with signs of protest and fliers of information to spread education about issues I care deeply about – war & peace, a healthy earth, and abolishing nuclear weapons. Vigiling is a way to draw myself away from everyday activities, to remind myself of dangers that could be averted if citizens come together in protest. A regular vigil is a place to meet my friends-in-peace, to share information, and feel that
I’m not alone with my feelings. It’s also a place to meet new passers-by and spread the ideas of peace and justice. Does it make a difference? It’s like throwing that pebble into the sea – you never know what wave it will create!” – Judy M.

“Here are some thoughts on peace, justice, sustainability: If you want peace, work for justice.  Likewise, if you want justice, work for peace; peace and justice are intertwined. And as a matter of fact, if we don’t work for sustainability, the world may not be able to work for peace and justice…. Working for peace can begin with a simple smile, offered politely.

Working for sustainability can begin with thinking carefully about our lifestyles. Mindfulness in our daily affairs eases the path to peace, justice, and sustainability. Onward to peace and love, trees and flowers!”
– Larry O.

 

Vigiling for peace, justice and sustainability is for me an interpersonal means of educating myself and sharing information with others. It allows me to express an ever-deepening sense of injustice I have for a wounded humanity, and an earth desperately in need of healing. Our flier messages convey to the public the systematic exploitation of those who are marginalized by the obscene cost of U.S. wars and exploitative foreign policies when and where it suits our own national interests. The nuclear arsenal we finance, build and threaten to use is capable of killing millions of people at the press of a button. Corporate-profiteering through weapons
manufacturing, sales and systems of delivery blindly creates a viability-for-profit in every state of the Union.

Connections between militarism and environmental exploitative practices are culpable in threatening our very existence. This lack of moral courage to face reality is only outmaneuvered by our own looking the other way.

The late Rep. Elijah Cummings (1951-2019) said: “We are better than this.”

 

Neta Crawford reminds us that: “Local action is essential.”

Check out the video from Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Neta Crawford is a political scientist and the co-director of the Costs of War project:

Costs and Consequences of US Post-9/11 Wars: Focus on Climate Change

 

Together, we can all make a difference. We invite you to join us in seeking to make that difference.

– Mary Beth S.

 

National Priorities Project (NPP)

“The federal government found a way to spend $97 billion in a single month last year, of which more than $61 billion can be attributed to the Pentagon. It’s not a new phenomenon. In the last month of every fiscal year, federal agencies work to spend all that’s left in their annual budgets.
If they don’t, the agencies worry they’ll be appropriated a smaller share by Congress next year, hence the “use-it or lose-it” spending sprees…”

Some of the big ticket spending items are attributed to the usual major defense contractors. The Pentagon spent $8.1 billion on contracts with Lockheed Martin and $5.1 billion with Boeing in September, for instance.

 

The Pentagon wants to know how a border wall will improve troops’ ‘effectiveness’ before it contributes DoD dollars

 

 

Cost of National Security

US Budgetary Costs: $ 6.4 Trillion

Full Paper on Costs of War

“The vast economic impact of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan is poorly understood  by the US public and policymakers. This paper estimates the budgetary costs of war, including past expenditures and obligations to care for veterans of these wars throughout their lifetimes.”

Since late 2001, the United States has appropriated and is obligated to spend an estimated $6.4 Trillion through Fiscal Year 2020 in budgetary costs related to and caused by the post-9/11 wars—an estimated $5.4 Trillion in appropriations in current dollars and an additional minimum of $1 Trillion for US obligations to care for the veterans of these wars through the next several decades.

 

“One of the major purposes of the Costs of War Project has been to clarify the types of budgetary costs of the US post-9/11 wars, how that spending is funded, and the long-term implications of past and current spending. This estimate of the US budgetary costs of the post-9/11 wars is a comprehensive accounting intended to provide a sense of the consequences of the wars for the federal budget. Since the 9/11 attacks, the Department of Defense appropriations related to the Global War on Terror have been treated as emergency appropriations, now called Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).3 When accounting for total war costs, the Department of Defense and other entities often present only Overseas Contingency Operation appropriations.”

National Priorities Project: Cost of National Security 

 

Dear Vigilers,
We were ten strong at the vigil yesterday, and five strong “with-us-in-spirit.” Pretty good for a mostly unorganized, pop-up peace vigil. It was a beautiful bright sunny day, but boy, was it cold!
Nonetheless, we were warm-in-heart-and-spirit. I came by about two hours later and there were our beautiful Tibetan Peace Flags hung in the three Ginkgo trees still fluttering in the wind. People were walking be them like it was the most natural thing in the world. Maybe it was? What a great idea, Christina, to pass them out to passersby, too. We even got to pass one out to our old vigiler friend, Todd M. It surprised me at how amenable people were to taking them right along with the flier.
We had a nice assortment of their favorite signs people brought with them—oldies-but-goodies!
And we used my niece, Jamie’s, little red wagon (to which Christina sang the little red wagon song) for a stand-in table in which we served gingerbread boy cookies and hot Turmeric Ginger Buddha tea to complement our peace flags and cookies. (According to the tea label, “Good if you have a medical condition.” Our only ‘medical condition’ may be that we are ‘sick’ of war!) The only thing we missed was music—maybe next year?
We closed with our usual announcements, see: (www.safeskiescleanwaterwi.org,and Dona Nobis Pacem which Martina kicked off for us. We then dispersed to the four winds to spread our spirit-filled peaceful actions to the whole earth (Well, to Madison, anyway.) just like our Tibetan Peace Flags’ messages joyfully bore their fruit across Downtown Madison and beyond.