Peace House Tulsa

306 South Phoenix at Charles Page Blvd (3rd Street) in Tulsa, OK. The official blog for Peace House Tulsa, this forum intends to be ONE avenue for communication among Tulsa-area seekers of and creators of PEACE. See our website too: peacehousetulsa.org

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Report from the weekend in DC

From: Gary Allison
Date: January 28, 2007 10:54:24 PM CST
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
Subject: Saturday's Peace March in Washington, D.C.


Sunday, January 28, 10:00 PM

Dear Just Progress Members

Barbara and I just returned from Washington, D.C., where we participated in Saturday's march for peace. This event was both exciting and sobering.

It was exciting because in my humble opinion there were at least 500,000 people there from all parts of the nation, from all walks of life, and from every age group imaginable. I was so impressed by the many young people I spoke with, many of whom had driven hundreds of miles all through the night to reach the march just as it started. Adding to the excitement were the great speakers. It was, of course, very thrilling to hear the eloquent words of Jesse Jackson, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Jane Fonda, and Tim Robbins. But, it was just as inspirational, if not more so, to hear speakers representing Gold Star Families--families who have lost loved ones fighting in Irag and Afghanistan--organized labor, NOW and many other frontline Progressive organizations. Of all the words we heard, the one's that had the most effect on me were Tim Robbins' when he said that:

"Richard Nixon talked to walls, but George Bush is talking to God. The God Bush is talking to is not a God I recognize. This God seems to be giving Bush a pass on many of the Ten Commandments. Among the Commandments he is getting a pass on are 'Thou shalt not bear false witness' [here Robbins recited a long list of Bush lies and exaggerations], 'honor thy father' [here Robbins noted that Bush I had given Bush II advice not to go to Iraq], and, most importantly, 'THOU SHALT NOT KILL!'" He closed his speech by asking why so many of the Democrats who campaigned against these transgressions now are saying that impeachment is off the table.

The march was sobering because everything you could see and hear in Washington, at the March, from knowledgeable people who live there, from the Conservative Summit that was being held in our hotel, is that Bush has no intention on honoring the election demands given him by Voters last November 7. This is all the more sobering when you hear speech after speech from people on the front line of this war detailing how poorly it has gone, how many of our civil rights have been taken away, and how much criminal behavior (torture) has been done in the name of our security. As one speaker, whose name I cannot remember, shouted to the crowd: We are all responsible for allowing these horrible things to happen, for until very recently there has not been any significant mass protest demanding that these horrors committed in our name be stopped and redressed.

As just one example, the morning of the March, the Washington Post reported that the young arab-Canadian that we kidnapped and sent incognito to Syria to be interrogated by torture has received an apology and $9 million dollars in recompense from Canada for its role in cooperating with the United States to send this young man away. The Prime Minister of Canada demanded that the United States apologize and restore this young man's right to travel through and within our borders. In reply, the Bush Administration made it clear that it had no intention of apologizing to this victim and stated that he would remain on our Terrorist watch lists, including our No Fly List.

Along the same lines, we heard from Jesselyn Radack, who was an attorney in the Justice Department's Professional Responsibility Advisory Office during the John Walker Lindh case. She raised legal and ethical objections over the questioning of Lindh without his lawyer and revealed misconduct by Department of Justice officials. As a result, Radack was pushed out of her job at the Justice Department, fired from her next job, put under criminal investigation and put on the no-fly list (where she remains as of Saturday).

Most sobering to me, however, was the shameful fact that only a handful of Democrats in public office accepted invitations to speak at this March. Among those running for President, only Dennis Kucinich showed up. No Democrats in the Senate appeared. Only a handful of Democrats in the House appeared, including John Conyers, Maxine Waters, Lynne Woolsey, and Jerry Nadler. Perhaps the best speech by a Democrat in public office came from Salt Lake City mayor "Rocky" Anderson. If a politician from a red state such as Utah has the courage to come to this peace March, it speaks volumes about those who would presume to head our ticket in 2008 that only Congressman Kucinich would be seen at this event.

My disappointment in our putative leaders will not, however, eclipse my pride and my joy in our fellow American citizens who came to the March and were with us in spirit. As I was leaving my room this morning, a door to another room opened and a young woman and her two very small children appeared. The woman bent down and picked up the copy of the Sunday Washington Post that was provided each guest. She glanced at the front page and then started calling to her husband: "My God, Michael, they put it on the front page. This is so important. She hugged her children. I asked "were you at the March." Her reply: "Yes, and I could never have believed that a middle of the road soccer mom like me would have ever done such a thing. I was so impressed with how respectful everyone was and how the overwhelming majority are just everyday citizens like me trying to get by. I expected to be in a band of wild radicals."

Hearing this young soccer mom makes me believe the tide is turning if we all just kick it up a notch. Impeachment should not be off the table. We should not resign ourselves to Bush having his way with our young military men and women for two more years. We should do all we can to see that he does not get a chance to get us in another war, this time in Iran.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I truly believe our time is at hand if we will only seize the moments now given to us to make a difference.

Your friend in the War for Peace

Gary

PS:

Best sign I saw not related to the War:

No Child Left Behind with a Dime.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Peace House Tulsa

Sent by a Muslim friend of Peace House

Why Can’t Americans See it?
By Paul Craig Roberts
“Within weeks from now, we will see the informational warfare machine start
working. The public opinion is already under pressure. There will be a
growing anti-Iranian militaristic hysteria, new information leaks,
disinformation, etc. . . . The probability of a US aggression against Iran
is extremely high"
01/27/07 "ICHBlog " -- - The American public and the
US Congress are getting their backs up about the Bush Regime’s determination
to escalate the war in Iraq. A Massive protest demonstration is occurring in
Washington DC today, and Congress is expressing its disagreement with Bush’s
decision to intensify the war in Iraq.

This is all to the good. However, it misses the real issue--the Bush Regime’
s looming attack on Iran.

Rather than winding down one war, Bush is starting another. The entire world
knows this and is discussing Bush’s planned attack on Iran in many forums.
It is only Americans who haven’t caught on. A few senators have said that
Bush must not attack Iran without the approval of Congress, and postings on
the Internet demonstrate world wide awareness that Iran is in the Bush
Regime’s cross hairs. But Congress and the Media--and the demonstration in
Washington--are focused on Iraq.

What can be done to bring American awareness up to the standard of the rest
of the world?

In Davos, Switzerland, the meeting of the World Economic Forum, a conference
where economic globalism issues are discussed, opened January 24 with a
discussion of Bush’s planned attack on Iran. The Secretary General of the
League of Arab States and bankers and businessmen from such US allies as
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates all warned of the coming attack and its
catastrophic consequences for the MIddle East and the world.

Writing for Global Research (January 24), General Leonid Ivashov, vice
president of the Academy on Geopolitical Affairs and former Joint Chief of
Staff of the Russian Armies, forecast an American nuclear attack on Iran by
the end of April. General Ivashov presented the neoconservative reasoning
that is the basis for the attack and concluded that the world’s protests
cannot stop the US attack on Iran.

There will be shock and indignation, General Ivashov concludes, but the US
will get away with it. He writes:

“Within weeks from now, we will see the informational warfare machine start
working. The public opinion is already under pressure. There will be a
growing anti-Iranian militaristic hysteria, new information leaks,
disinformation, etc. . . . The probability of a US aggression against Iran
is extremely high. It does remain unclear, though, whether the US Congress
is going to authorize the war. It may take a provocation to eliminate this
obstacle (an attack on Israel or the US targets including military bases).
The scale of the provocation may be comparable to the 9-11 attack in NY.
Then the Congress will certainly say “Yes” to the US President.”

The Bush Regime has made it clear that it is convinced that Bush already has
the authority to attack Iran. The Regime argues that the authority is part
of Bush’s commander-in-chief powers. Congress has authorized the war in
Iraq, and Bush’s recent public statements have shifted the responsibility
for the Iraqi insurgency from al-Qaeda to Iran. Iran, Bush has declared, is
killing US troops in Iraq. Thus, Iran is covered under the authorization for
the war in Iraq.

Both Bush and Cheney have made it clear in public statements that they will
ignore any congressional opposition to their war plans. For example, CBS
News reported (Jan. 25) that Cheney said that a congressional resolution
against escalating the war in Iraq “won’t stop us.” According to the
Associated Press and Yahoo News, Bush dismissed congressional disapproval
with his statement, “I’m the decision-maker.”

Everything is in place for an attack on Iran. Two aircraft carrier attack
forces are deployed to the Persian Gulf, US attack aircraft have been moved
to Turkey and other countries on Iran’s borders, Patriot anti-missile
defense systems are being moved to the Middle East to protect oil facilities
and US bases from retaliation from Iranian missiles, and growing reams of
disinformation alleging Iran’s responsibility for the insurgency in Iraq are
being fed to the gullible US Media.

General Ivashof and everyone in the Middle East and at the Davos
globalization conference in Europe understands the Bush Regime’s agenda.

Why cannot Americans understand?

Why hasn’t Congress told Bush and Cheney that they will both be instantly
impeached if they initiate a wider war?

"The people whom Allah loves most are those who are always ready to help
others in any way they can..."

Peace House Tulsa

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o239/deminva/012707Protest/DSCF0228.jpg
Here's a picture of Harry Allison at the demonstration in DC this past weekend.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

RALLY SATURDAY AT CAPITOL

Peace House - Tulsa
306 S. Phoenix Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74127
918-231-2514
peacehousetulsa.org


LET'S MAKE SURE TULSA IS REPRESENTED!
Carpools gathering at Peace House-Tulsa at 9:00 AM SAT.
Departing by 9:30 AM TO ARRIVE IN TIME FOR THE RALLY

Please Forward / Invite / and Come
Our OKC Event is growing as we work

No Escalation! End the War! Troops Home Now!
A NATIONAL CALL: SATURDAY, JANUARY 27:
Thousands are going to Washington, DC, to
demonstrate
where Congress - the Seat of Government - is in
Session.
******************
IN OKLAHOMA CITY, COME DEMONSTRATE FOR PEACE
at OUR Seat of Government: Our State Capitol
State Capitol RALLY FOR PEACE IN IRAQ
Noon to 1 pm, South Plaza at the Capitol
Music / Speakers / Tables / Booths
Speaking: Rev.Dr. Robin Meyers,
Iraq Vet / Opinion Leaders
Bring signs, Banners, Friends and family.
Nonviolent Call to End the War.
-- 1 pm Peace Walk from Capitol to Follow --
Tables and Information Sponsored by
The Peace House, Spiritual Walk For Peace, Veterans
For Peace,
CodePink, Dept.of Peace Campaign, OCCO, DFA,
Anti-War Fair Coalition
Endorsements Invited