Category Archives: Imperialism

Our Hearts are Weary ~ September 11 Madison Action

MOBILIZATION AGAINST MILITARISM

Sept. 11, 2021

Downtown Madison Farmer’s Market

On Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of 9/11, our hearts are weary after at least 20 years of the “forever wars” and skyrocketing Pentagon budgets.  So many innocent children, women, and men have been killed, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Yemen, and so many other places in the Middle East and Africa.  And we are no closer to bringing peace.  War WAS NOT the answer!

End the ever-increasing military profiteering

End the violations of human rights, natural rights and legal rights

8:00 am – noon:  FLY KITES, NOT DRONES Join us at King St. corner of the square. The Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice table will have kites, leaflets, buttons, and other information.

10:00 am:   ALL ARE WELCOME AS WE gather for a rally outside Senator Baldwin’s office at 30 West Mifflin St. (near the State St. corner of the square).

Speakers include: 

Bonnie Block activist and rebel with Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars

Vicki Berenson, human being for peace and justice, WNPJ, Friends, Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin Coalition 

Allen Ruff, historian, concerned citizen and activist 

 

Malachy Kilbride, human being working towards justice, activist with National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund

Senator Baldwin, stop voting for the War Machine, fund human needs, and lead us to a peace economy!

The U.S. government spends more on the military than the next top eleven countries combined.  And we are no closer to bringing peace!

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet program, one of the biggest boondoggles in military history, are looking to come to Madison.  And we are no closer to bringing peace!

As we move closer and closer to ecocide, the military remains the biggest source of pollution on earth.  And we are no closer to bringing peace!

Suicide, PTSD, and moral injury is a huge problem for our veterans who have been emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually damaged from our wars.  And we are no closer to bringing peace!

Senator Tammy Baldwin, along with so many other Democrats and Republicans, does not represent our desire to bring an end to the “forever wars”.  We have no party for peace.  We only have a War Party!  Sen. Baldwin actively worked to bring the F-35s to Madison, she does not provide strong support for policies to make the world green, she backs economic policies that support militarism, and she continues to vote for the obscene military budget.

 

We have had enough of these crimes and injustice.   Senator Baldwin needs to be a strong leader for the people.  She needs to stand up to the War Party!

There will be a nonviolent civil resistance action in front of Baldwin’s office.  If you are interested or want more information, contact joyfirst5@gmail.com

 

Sponsored by:  Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars

If you would like your group to co-sponsor, contact joyfirst5@gmail.com

Uninvited: Sen. Baldwin Denies Access to Constituents Who Oppose the War Machine

Tammy Baldwin Denies Access to Fundraiser Ticketholders Who Have Been Vocal Against the F-35 Bomber Deployment in Madison
By Amy Anderson, Aug 26, 2021

 

[pictures & links – bottom]
The latest battle to stop the planned F-35 bomber deployment to Air National Guard’s Truax Field in Madison took place at the entrance to Senator Tammy Baldwin’s annual summer BBQ fundraiser last Sunday, August 22nd. Held at the picturesque Fields Reserve reception barn on a wooded hill near Lake Kegonsa, some residents came to express their alarm and dismay about the harm to the Madison community that they say the stationing of these jets would bring.

 

However, several constituents who had paid for entry to the $50-$1000 fundraiser received email cancellations and refunds of their donations from the event staff just one day prior to the event. The seven constituents were all members of Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin, a group calling for the halt of F-35s coming to Madison.

These seven individuals came despite the cancellation but were not allowed in as eight security officers and three Dane County sheriff deputies guarded the driveway. So instead they joined the picket organized by the No F35 Action Faction, who brought 35 local residents to picket and pass out flyers. Donors attending the event waited in lines in their cars, sometimes for 15 minutes or longer while a single event staff person checked tickets against a list of names to determine if each passenger was on the approved list for entry.

One of the most vocal members denied entry was Tom Berman, a northside
homeowner for 37 years who has also operated a small business there for 32 years.
He expressed desperation that his beloved home and place of business will be
officially condemned as being within an “uninhabitable” zone once the F-35 jets
arrive and the frequent practice drills begin.

He quotes the Air Force’s Environmental Impact Statement that there are already 6222 sorties planned each year for the F-35s once they arrive in 2023. This is a 27% rise over current flights from Truax Field. He explained that the noise levels from takeoff of F-35s are traumatic to humans and more than four times louder than the F-16s which currently regularly practice over Madison’s east and northside.

David Williams from the No F35 Action Faction called the blacklisting of Madison residents from the event a sad but unsurprising disappointment in light of the Senator’s continued stonewalling against the growing voices from her own hometown against this deployment. “Our original picket slogan was We should not have to pay to be heard. But now we realize that even for those purchasing a ticket, we still don’t get to be heard.”

 

Mr. Berman reports that after the event was over Senator Baldwin did stop and let him give her his letter on her way out, saying she would have one of her staff get back to him.

 

The Safe Skies and Action Faction groups have been working for over two years to raise public awareness and to pressure Senator Baldwin, who has been a supporter of deploying F-35s in Madison rather than a sparsely populated area where it would be easier to mitigate the impacts.

 

Objections to the F-35 deployment include:

  • regular traumatic and unhealthy noise levels for Madison residents
  • the expense and hardship of relocating multiple Madison residents
  • decrease in property values for east and northside residents
  • impacts will affect low-income and minority populations the most
  • increase of PFAS “forever” chemicals commonly used in firefighting drills at Truax which  have already contaminated local waterways and many municipal wells
  • the well-documented dubiety of the F-35s as a military investment
  • the danger of bringing these nuclear-capable planes to Madison
  • the escalation of out-of-control military spending and endless war

 

Find Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin and sign up for updates.

Like  No F-35s Action Faction on Facebook, and they welcome people to join the cause.

 

Pro-Peace and Pro-Justice Letter to Senator Baldwin August 2021

August 22, 2021

Dear Senator Baldwin

You are our Senator, representing us in congress.  We have supported you in the past, but it is getting more difficult because for many years now we believe you are not representing us in your votes promoting militarism.  Militarism, as Martin Luther King Jr. stated, is one of the triple ‘evils’, along with racism and excessive materialism, that harm our American society.  As you know, the U.S. government spends more on militarism than the next 11 countries combined. We would like the money we spend on militarism moved to spending on human needs, such as health care, housing, food, education, and a green energy economy.

Therefore, for our continued support we ask that you commit to:

Lowering the 2022 spending from the 2021 present military budget of 740 billion dollars, over 60% of the total US discretionary budget.  It is against  our values when the Department of Defense gets more of our taxpayer dollars than all the other departments of our government, education, health, housing, State, etc. combined.

Withdrawing your advocacy and support for the F-35 being based in Madison.  This plane, a major polluter of the environment, air, water and noise, is considered by many military experts a “boondoggle”, too big to fail.  Madison and Wisconsin residents have made it clear they do not want it. 

Stop supporting increased funding to the largest industrial polluter in the world, the US military.  In a world on the brink of climate destruction, we must lessen our support for major polluters.  War is nonsustainable and only leads to more wars with destruction to continue.

Supporting more jobs in education, clean energy and health care over military jobs.  We know that “1 billion in military spending creates approximately 11,200 jobs, compared with 26,700 in education,16,800 in clean energy, and 17,200 in health care.” https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/economic/economy/employment  

We will gather in front of your office on the square on Sept. 11, 2021 at 10:00 am to hear your response to these demands.  We would like you or your representative to be present and show us that you hear us and will represent us.  We wait for your response on 9/11 at the Madison Farmers Market, a day we remember the terror of 9/11 and also celebrate sustainability.

Sincerely,

Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars

joyfirst5@gmail.com 608 239-4327

Statement on U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan (Veterans for Peace)

Veterans For Peace has previously condemned the U.S. “forever wars” against “terror” and called for withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, Iraq and other places in the world. We unequivocally believe that war is not the answer to any problem and that there is no military solution in Afghanistan.

The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was shameful and poorly executed. We have left too many behind. It was only after veteran and media outcry over leaving dedicated translators and their families, people who risked their lives for us that the U.S. decided, too late, to include them in our withdrawal. Many Afghans have been blocked by callus immigration policy and “Muslim Bans” from seeking safety in the United States, from the destabilization in Afghanistan that the U.S. created. Caring for refugees and civilians fleeing from conflict is basic decency, and the United States fails to act with the urgency required to protect people. Casual disregard for Afghan lives continues on all levels.

The release of the Afghanistan Papers last year clearly laid out the failed policy and the catastrophic level of malfeasance that reach the highest levels of the U.S. government. Virtually all U.S. government agencies bear responsibility for misleading the American public and for creating the conditions in which an unchecked military operates without accountability.

In the Afghanistan Papers over 400 people detailed the systematic failure of the U.S. military to take responsibility for its ineptness and instead blamed “corruption” of the Afghanistan government, all the while revealing the massive corruption and lies that the U.S. is perpetuating. While U.S. military commanders bemoaned Afghan leaders enriching themselves off American tax dollars, those same commanders climbed government ranks and earned promotions for promoting endless war.

U.S. Soldiers, contractors, and veterans were routinely marginalized or persecuted to maintain the status quo in Afghanistan. Their integrity was questioned while government lies were glorified as truth by a complicit media and government agencies.

Afghanistan is yet another example of U.S. military ineptness. Name it and it was wrong….Korea, Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq and a host of other military employments in Latin and South America. There are other instruments of national power that can be used to achieve reasonable national objectives than the U.S. military. Will our national leaders ever learn this lesson?
As veterans who have served in these wars and past wars, we are enraged by leaders that lie to us and lack the moral courage to act even when there is proof. We demand accountability in real and tangible ways. The pandering and posturing of so many politicians today is infuriating. Both parties are to blame for this and a militaristic culture that places profit above all else.

We must see a shift towards a future that holds the military and our government officials accountable. We must reduce the military budget and reallocate those funds towards social programs that prioritize meeting people’s needs and to support the masses of refugees that seek safety for their families.

We continue to stand by these demands:

  • Accept all Afghan refugees and provide humanitarian aid & resettlement aid.
  • The military IMMEDIATELY release all three hundred names of those quoted in the Afghanistan Papers
  • Congressional hearings that include perjury trials for all those officials who knowingly lied in official Congressional testimony, including closed door session of the Armed Forces Committee
  • A special Congressional committee to investigate fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement for the war in Afghanistan
  • A Congressional tribunal allowing Afghanistan veterans to testify about their experience.
  • Repeal of the AUMF (Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists) — which includes any subsequent AUMF to have a sunset clause.
  • Recognition of Moral Injury as a legitimate diagnosis
  • Reparations to Afghanistan and to all Afghans

 

About Face: Veterans Against the War has compiled a list of ways to help.  Click here 

Original Link VFP National