Wednesday, August 27, 2003

Veterans For Peace QUOTE OF THE DAY "The military don't start wars. Politicians start wars." - - William Westmoreland KNOW YOUR HISTORY - AUGUST 27th 1975 -- Haile Selassie, deposed king of Ethiopia, revered by Rastafarians the world over as the representative of Jah on Earth, dies at age 83. 1983 -- 300,000 march in Washington on the 20th anniversary of the "March on Washington for Jobs, Peace, & Freedom, " originally headed by Martin Luther King, Jr. This 2nd march had NY Times estimates of 200,000, Almanac says 250,000. 1990 -- Blues-rock guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan dies in a helicopter crash, Alpine Valley, Wisconsin. RHINO HERE: "This Is The Moment" is a powerful video about Dennis Kucinich, his history, issues & campaign. It's hosted by actor Hector Elizondo & features Ed Asner, James Cromwell & Mimi Kennedy. SEE THE VIDEO AT: http://kucinich.us/thisisthemoment.htm A Call To Action - On Saturday October 25th there will be an International March on Washington DC to say: Bring the troops home now! End the occupation of Iraq! Money for jobs, education & health care - Not war! FOR MORE INFO GO TO: http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/o25/index.html#call Veterans For Peace (VFP) held their annual convention in San Francisco earlier this month. The keynote speaker was teacher, author, & editor of TruthOut, William Rivers-Pitt. His inspiring address is today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE. VFP was founded in 1985, in their words, "by ex-service members committed to sharing the horrors they experienced. We know the consequences of American foreign policy because once, at a time in our lives, so many of us carried it out. We find it sad that war seems so delightful, so often, to those that have no knowledge of it. We will proudly, and patriotically, continue to denounce war despite whatever misguided sense of euphoria supports it." MORE ON VETERANS FOR PEACE: http://www.veteransforpeace.org Rivers-Pitt also wrote an article for TruthOut commenting on his experience attending the convention. Standing Against The Fear By William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t | Perspective, Monday 18 August 2003 ...I was privileged to share several days with the men and women of this organization during their annual convention in San Francisco. It would take an entire book, an entire volume of books, to describe my experiences there. It would take an entire book to describe shaking the hand of Brian Willson. Willson is a Vietnam veteran who stands today on two prosthetic limbs attached to his knees. He did not lose his legs in the war. He lost his legs in 1987 while protesting in Concord, California. He and his comrades were attempting to stop a Naval train loaded with weapons that was headed for Central America. Willson laid himself across the tracks, determined not to move. He and the protesters had done this several times before, and each time the train had stopped. Not this time. The train took Willson's legs and smashed a hole in his skull. He somehow survived this, and stands today with the Veterans of Peace, unbowed and undaunted and unafraid. He is not the exception among the men and women of this group. He is the rule... READ RIVERS-PITT'S DECRIPTION OF THE CONVENTION AT: http://truthout.org/docs_03/081803A.shtml A related, & as yet under-reported story tells of a lawsuit the shrubbies would rather not happen: Lawsuit for Gulf War Veterans Targets WMD Businesses heatherwokusch.com , August 21, 2003 A lawsuit on behalf of over 100,000 Gulf War veterans has the Bush administration on edge and businesses running for cover. The class action suit names 11 companies and 33 banks alleged to have helped Iraq with its chemical weapons program in the 1980's, despite knowledge Saddam Hussein was actively using WMD against both Iranians and his own people. At the time, Reagan's Middle East envoy was one Donald Rumsfeld, hard at work opening doors for Hussein's regime to purchase millions in aircraft, hardware and other potential weaponry. But after the invasion of Kuwait bumped Hussein from Pentagon friend to the "Most Wanted" list, coalition forces got stuck with the nasty task of dealing with the same chemical weapons that businesses had profited by helping Iraq amass. Unfortunately, most Gulf War troops didn't realize that in destroying Hussein's WMD, they would also be endangering their own lives... http://www.heatherwokusch.com/columns/column50.html 8:01:33 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - We Stand Our Ground We Stand Our Ground Keynote Speech by William Rivers Pitt, at The Veterans For Peace Convention, 8/10/03 ...The first of August saw a very interesting article published in the Washington Post. The title was, "US Shifts Rhetoric On its Goals in Iraq." The story quotes an unnamed administration source - I will bet you all the money in my wallet that this "source" was a man named Richard Perle - who outlined the newest reasons for our war over there. "That goal is to see the spread of our values," said this aide, "and to understand that our values and our security are inextricably linked." Our values. That's an interesting concept coming from a member of this administration. We make much of the greatness and high moral standing of the United States of America, and there is much to be proud of. The advertising, however, has lately failed completely to match up with the product. Is it part of our value system to remain on a permanent war footing since World War II, shunting money desperately needed for human services and education into a military machine whose very size and expense demands the fighting of wars to justify its existence? Is it part of our value system to lie to the American people, to lie deeply and broadly and with no shame at all, about why we fight in Iraq? Is it part of our value system to sacrifice nearly three hundred American soldiers on the altar of those lies, to sacrifice thousands and thousands and thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq on the altar of those lies? Is it part of our value system to use the horror of September 11 to terrify the American people into an unnecessary war, into the ruination of their civil rights, into the annihilation of the Constitution?  Is it part of our value system to use that terrible day against those American people who felt most personally the awful blow of that attack? Is striking first part of our value system?  Is living in fear part of our value system? It is not part of my value system. It never will be... THE ENTIRE SPEECH IS POSTED AT: http://truthout.org/docs_03/081003A.shtml "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. 7:00:30 AM    comment

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