[act-ma] 5/2 Conference call; 5/17 - 5/19 Protest Obama's Concentration Camp ~The World Can't Wait
pf soto
pfsoto at mynas.com
Wed May 1 22:51:47 PDT 2013
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Jax2Cw9FdG1NcVhlDlIvRh3G4J2lgqsb>
*/From the Desk of Debra Sweet, The World Can't Wait/*
Iraq War Resister Kimberly Rivera sentenced to 14 months in
military prison
Kim Rivera and family
After moving to Canada rather than return to Iraq in 2006, Kimberly
Rivera was deported back to the US in September 2012. Her lawyer stated
she was singled out for this punishment, even though she's a pregnant
mother of four, to “send a message” to other war resisters, precisely
because she spoke out against the war.
From Courage to Resist's interview
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2F1LamPX3Uf3BCa%2FrMOBy0B3G4J2lgqsb>with
Kimberly Rivera:
“/When I saw the little girl [in Iraq] shaking in fear, in fear of me,
because of my uniform, I couldn't fathom what she had been through and
all I saw was my little girl and I just wanted to hold her and comfort
her. But I knew I couldn't. It broke my heart. I am against hurting
anyone…what I saw and felt and knew was that when it came down to it, I
would not be able to harm anyone else, not for any reason. I would harm
myself first. I felt this also made me a liability to my unit and I
could not let me be a reason for anyone to be harmed---so I left./”
Also see: Democracy Now interview
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=8i0pznyxPz6M1DIwTeLE7R3G4J2lgqsb>with
her husband, Mario Rivera shortly after the sentencing.
President Obama seems to fear that the hunger strike of the Guantanamo
prisoners endangers the United States' reputation. He doesn't want them
to die. So we learned today when he was questioned by a reporter. See
Obama's remarks, and pertinent commentary from Kevin Gosztola: Obama’s
Deluded Remarks Ignore His Role in Keeping Prisoners at Guantanamo
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=CXkfzUJQGrFI1qS2DsGtoB3G4J2lgqsb>.
“...The decision to transport captured individuals in the Global War on
Terrorism (GWOT) to Guantanamo did not happen because of some popular
fear or anxiety amongst Americans after 9/11. That may have insulated
the administration of President George W. Bush from immediate criticism,
but, as Mark Mazzetti shows in his book, /The Way of the Knife: The CIA,
a Secret Army and a War at the Ends of the Earth/,
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=riMAjos%2BeMwIVjQk6%2BV4JB3G4J2lgqsb>it
was torture tapes destroyer and torture advocate, former CIA
Counterterrorism Center head, Jose Rodriguez, who suggested holding
individuals at Guantanamo Bay.
During a CIA meeting, where Rodriguez and then-director George Tenet
were present:
/“…Everyone around the table laughed, thinking about how much it would
anger Fidel Castro if the United States were to jail the prisoners of
its new war on the American military base in Cuba. But the more they
thought about the prospect, the more everyone thought Guantanamo
actually made sense. It was an American facility, and the fate of the
prison would not be jeopardized there as it could be in another country
if the government changed leadership and decided to kick the United
States’ prisoners out. And, the CIA officials figured, a prison at
Guantanamo Bay would be outside the jurisdiction of American courts. A
perfect location, it seemed…/”
We must do what we can to create a political situation where Obama
released the cleared prisoners and closes Guantanamo. Not because it
will “restore America's reputation.” Because *it was always wrong and no
government should be able to do such things*.
*Join the International Days of Protest of the 100th day of the
Hunger Strike.
Friday May 17 – Sunday May 19.
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=8S4oyQnP9STDN9ft%2BzeFs%2Fb4li5fCNZ8>
Protesting GitmoIt is up to us to amplify their voices and create a
political situation where the Obama administration is forced to release
those GTMO prisoners cleared; charge and try those they are holding
indefinitely, and finally — after more than four years — close the
prison camp.
Join in this effort by organizing an action in your area. This call to
action was initiated by the London Guantanamo Campaign
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=2Q3%2Bsr6z4HMJwrPJelDkux3G4J2lgqsb>.
**Join the World Can't Wait conference call on organizing for this
weekend of actions:
*Thursday May 2*
10pm Eastern / 7pm Pacific
Register for dial-in info
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=7cCQvV7t1k8Es0OnLtjXfh3G4J2lgqsb>.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Protecting Humanity from US Drones
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=SEU0O5a9G9oXKehE3Vjp9B3G4J2lgqsb>
Syracuse protest
The April month of protest against US drone warfare and surveillance
ended very strongly in Syracuse Sunday with a protest of hundreds of us
at Hancock Air Force Base, where drones — unmanned aerial vehicles — are
piloted over Pakistan, Afghanistan, and perhaps Yemen, Somalia and other
countries. Picture the starkness of the political clash:
* On the empire's side, the richest, strongest, most dangerously armed
military in world history. A worldwide network of perhaps 1,100
bases and hundreds of thousands of troops with the most
sophisticated weapons of mass destruction, extending from space;
networks of surveillance, secret operations, indefinite detention,
with political cover of compliant politicians justifying more and
more. At Hancock, this power was expressed through police forces
arrayed around us, photographing from every angle, threatening
arrest and prison terms for stepping over an arbitrary line on the
street.
*
On the side of humanity, in opposition to the war OF terror, a few
hundred people, many with white hair, deploying the means of song,
speech, costumes, music, symbolism, and appealing for justice, at
pains to recycle and not harm the grass. The protesters carried the
names and photographs of people actually killed by the drones,
reading their names aloud, and symbolically dying on the street.
Their weapons, the truth that the war on terror is illegitimately
destroying whole countries and people.
Continue reading about the action at Hancock Air Base...
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=c6%2F%2BpYc7B8ylUdZyPTnF5h3G4J2lgqsb>
View more photos.
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=iOlnNUxTPsu0%2BTUWBbc2OR3G4J2lgqsb>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Prisoners Speak: Reports from the Hunger Strike in Guantánamo
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=0sDt14WcHgQ5Gi7GsPtXcB3G4J2lgqsb>
Andy Worthington wrote on April 30:
On Friday, I received an alarming message from inside Guantánamo, from a
reliable source who described the impact of the prison-wide hunger
strike, now nearing the three-month mark, by stating that the the guards
were “putting people in isolation and all day long making lots of noise
by speaking loudly, running on the metal stairs and leaving their
two-way radios on all day and night. People cannot sleep.”
The source added, “There are at least four people that are at the very
edge and one named Khiali Gul from Afghanistan is in a bad shape and
cannot move and cannot talk or eat or drink. When other detainees tell
the guards about him, they say, ‘When he is completely unconscious, then
we will take him.’ The chances are that he will die.”
Continue reading...
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=wZgEuN248%2BJHCJKVozXVnB3G4J2lgqsb>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rally for Bradley Manning at Fort Meade: Day of Action June 1
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=rylX07uP%2FGY6Y0tMMcqg6x3G4J2lgqsb>
Free Bradley Manning
SF Pride President Capitulates to Military Groups, Announces
Bradley Manning Won’t Be Honored
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=WzVokx1Q5AYnT1bsezlDTfb4li5fCNZ8>
*Kevin Gosztola writes: *
“A group of former San Francisco Pride parade grand marshals that SF
Pride calls its electoral college announced on April 26 that Pfc.
Bradley Manning, the gay private who the United States military is
currently prosecuting for disclosing information to WikiLeaks, had been
selected as honorary grand marshal for this year’s LGBT Pride Celebration.”
Continue reading...
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=lCwUWTz6LtTU%2BrhwDE6eVB3G4J2lgqsb>
After more than three years of imprisonment, including nine months of
torture, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Bradley Manning’s trial is finally
scheduled to begin June 3, 2013, at Fort Meade, Maryland. The outcome of
this trial will determine whether a conscience-driven 25-year-old
WikiLeaks whistle-blower spends the rest of his life in prison.
*
Activist-organized round-trip buses:*
Bus from Baltimore, MD
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=liKThV0%2FTBulY0XVtFtFxB3G4J2lgqsb>
Leaving June 1st at 11:30 am from the 2640 Space at 2640 St. Paul
Street, Baltimore. Contact baltimore at bradleymanning.org, or better yet,
reserve your seat today ($10).
Bus from New York City
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=womQZLP9T%2FMwFNIr3e2PNB3G4J2lgqsb>
Leaving 7:30am June 1st from NYC at 1270 Broadway, between 32nd and 33rd
st. Reserve your seat today ($20).
Bus from Washington, DC
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=nqaI%2FVml7Hhdv6lEyfb6Mx3G4J2lgqsb>
Leaving June 1st at 11:30am from in front of Union Station, Washington,
DC. Contact malachy at bradleymanning.org, or better yet, reserve your seat
today ($10).
Located outside these cities, but interested in organizing others to go
to Ft. Meade? The Bradley Manning Support Network
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=OF1X0CeTSQHEHNB2zCcgah3G4J2lgqsb>is
offering small grants to help with organizing buses and vans to carpool
to Ft. Meade for June 1st!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lynne Stewart Recommended for Compassionate Release
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=im%2B42QQvI%2FIFu8WMdQpmNB3G4J2lgqsb>
LynneJeff Mackler wrote on April 29 about Lynne Stewart, attorney and
advisor to War Criminals Watch:
“...Stewart was sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of
conspiracy to aid and abet terrorism because she issued a press release
on behalf of her client the "blind" sheik, Omar Abdel Rachman.
The Carswell warden stated that he could not deal with the over 11,000
petitions he had received to date and recommended to the Justice
Department that Lynne be released to the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
in New York City, the world class hospital where Lynne first underwent
surgery for breast cancer some three years ago.”
Continue reading, and listen to a message from Lynne's husband Ralph
Poynter...
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=J3m1MxUaF3vdQshZLr3cSvb4li5fCNZ8>
More at LynneStewart.org
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=C2sZSo%2FyZQTLpVN6KHBzQB3G4J2lgqsb>including
her petition.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Protesters Arrested During Demonstration Near Bush Library Dedication
Bush arrested
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ae8YIhiSJsc4WnjkpsNmMh3G4J2lgqsb>
View more photos.
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=GH0YCLa2uJjDKvUkiGYUWB3G4J2lgqsb>
World Can't Wait is very glad hundreds of people demonstrated in Dallas
at the opening of the Bush library, a reminder that not everyone has
forgotten about Bush's crimes against humanity. From the Dallas News
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=i7uprvzDE0x6uP9Y26i0yB3G4J2lgqsb>:
“...Others held signs: Does America Have a Conscience? Deconstruct the
Lies. Arrest Bush. Library or Lie-bury?
Speakers included longtime Bush foe Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed
in Iraq in 2004. She detoured from a bicycle tour for peace to attend
the Thursday event.
‘I’m here because Obama’s here. I’m here because the Bushes are here.
I’m here because the Clintons are here,’ she said. ‘These people didn’t
escape office free from war crimes.’
Former talk show host Phil Donahue and event organizer Leslie Harris led
a slow, silent ‘death march’ down the access road. The Bush and Cheney
bobble-heads followed white-masked marchers and a huge banner: “For the
sake of the future, demand accountability.’”
Debra Sweet <mailto:debrasweet at worldcantwait.net>, The World Can't Wait
DONATE
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=KwUzeA%2F1JNVtRKVzq0wQUh3G4J2lgqsb>
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World Can't Wait
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