Thursday, April 30, 2009

Obama declassifies Bush administration

Torture Friday 24 April 2009

by: John Cory, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

They say that the first casualty of war is truth, but they are wrong. The first casualty of war - is reality. In war, the unreal becomes real and the lie becomes truth.

On Tuesday evening, I watched Anderson Cooper and Bill O'Reilly utter the same euphemism for torture. "Harsh" techniques, they said. And then, to each of their guests they posed the question of whether or not these "harsh interrogation techniques" worked and shouldn't that be an important part of judging their merit? I felt dirty just listening to them.

Harsh interrogation techniques, coercive tactics, enhanced techniques - These are the rebranding tools for torture. In order to avoid turning our eyes away or burying our heads in the sand, we grab politically acceptable words and terms to diminish the sting and shame of actual torture, so we can brag about being a moral society open to the discussion of stressful questioning of enemy combatants. Sterile words remove us from the very real sins of torturing human beings. And the more we become adept at anesthetic language, the easier it becomes to talk without vomiting when we speak our sins aloud. The easier it becomes to torture. The easier it becomes to maintain the nobility of torture as a tool of patriotism.

The talking heads on television now preen and prep to define reality. Torture is not the issue, they say. The politics of torture is the issue and that is the shiny object we should all be focused on. This is political. Right versus left, not right versus wrong.

The Republicans tell us that torture is legal if the Justice Department and the president say it is. Nixon said if the president does it, it is not illegal. But the ensuing investigations and judgments proved him wrong. This time around, the president generated supportive judicial opinions, so that everyone could wave a paper in America's face and say, "See, it's all legal. The Justice Department says so. It is not torture in the strictest legal definition because there is no organ failure or death. God bless America. Amen."

If torture (harsh interrogation) works - why does it take 183 times to get results? Does it wear off after the first five times? Like a bad inoculation? Or did the prisoner just forget the question while he was choking to death and so you had to keep repeating everything?

Republicans and FOX News tell me that President Obama has disgraced and endangered America by smiling and shaking hands with Hugo Chavez, a particularly despicable character. But incorporating the practices of the KGB and Communist China in our interrogation of enemy combatants is the American thing to do. We hate the Evildoers of the world except for those wonderfully effective torture techniques they use.

They tell us that torture is the only way to avoid another 9/11. Haven't we kept America safe since that awful day? Thanks to torture, no one has attacked us since. Never mind that we didn't pay attention to the threat previously, or that we lost focus because the warnings came from Clinton and he was not a real President. Or that Richard Clarke and others shouted about their hair being on fire over the possibility of an attack. No one could have imagined such a thing. No one. Except of course the people who put it in memos that were ignored.

But that was the past and this is the present. Do not look back in anger. Look to the future. Torture is the only way to protect us, to keep us safe. Torture will teach them not to dare think of another attack. It is revenge for what the Evildoers have wrought upon democracy, but even more importantly, it is the sword of justice that will lay waste to our enemies.

We are all Jack Bauer now. The ticking time bomb is out there and we need torture to save America. The threat is imminent. Be afraid. Be very afraid. There are voices telling us that "enhanced interrogation techniques" work, that multiple plots and potential attacks have been averted, secret incidents that cannot be revealed for reasons of national security. Voices intone the gravity of having released these memos authorizing torture that now tell the enemy what to expect and how to defend themselves against these "harsh" techniques. But these warnings and complaints come from the same men who willing revealed the identity of a covert CIA agent for political gain, an agent who was protecting America.

For 60 years, America has denounced the torture tactics of our enemies as being criminal. From WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam to the Iraq War, torture was evil. We invaded Iraq and overthrew Saddam because he was evil and tortured his people. We denounced the torture of POWs in Hanoi and pointed out that torture only served a propaganda purpose. And now, we say torture is not torture because we do it humanely. If America tortures, it is not the same as Communists and tyrants and Islamic fundamentalists. There is good torture and bad torture. America defines the difference.

And so, the great talking heads and pundits of the media village will inoculate us against guilt and anger by explaining the game of politics and morality. The game of semantics will numb our indignation if we just listen to their soothing voices in the darkness that has become America. They will calm our troubled hearts. They will ease our pain and whisper the words we so desperately want to hear, "There, there, you are America. You are good. You are special. You do not torture. You simply protect us from the monsters under the bed. Hush now, don't look in the mirror; just close your eyes and everything will be all right."

amnestyusa.org/war-on-terror/

International Humanitarian Law - Treaties & Documents

Torture Memos: ‘What Is Done in the Dark’

by Valerie Elverton Dixon 04-23-2009

Jesus taught: “For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light” (Luke 8:17). In other words: the truth will come out.President Obama was right to release memos describing CIA interrogation techniques that add up to torture. News reports say there was controversy inside the administration about whether or not to release them. President Obama decided yes. Whether or not those who ordered the torture or devised the legal opinions to justify it will face prosecution remains an open question.

History shows us that at some point, some way, somehow the truth comes to light. It must, because the truth is that which coheres with reality. And the truth is deeper than a list of facts. The truth is facts in context, facts in use, facts and consequence, facts and meaning. Truth is the heart and soul of existence.

History also teaches us the harvest of terror and torture — continued cycles of violence, psychological trauma, and corruption of a national soul. There is no new thing under the sun. The French-Algerian anti-colonial war is an example of what happens when terrorism and torture become tactics of war. They both work in the short term, but in the long run they leave deep wounds that are slow to heal. Terrorism caused the French public to become weary of the war, but that same French public also became appalled by torture done in their name. Since the anti-colonial war, Algeria has been plagued by terrorism. Factions out of power seek power through the tactic of terrorism.

As for torture, the torture tortured the torturers. Writing in The Wretched of the Earth, Franz Fanon wrote of the psychological damage the violence caused to those on all sides, including those who administered torture. In one case, a European police inspector came to the clinic where Fanon worked for psychiatric help. He had been torturing his wife and children. Fanon wrote: “At home he has a constant desire to give everyone a beating. And he violently assaults his children, even his twenty-month-old baby.” The torturer spoke of being worn out by the torture.

The psychological harm is true for American torturers as well. Writing for The New York Times, Scott Shane reports the trauma to those applying and watching the torture. One observer said: “Seeing these depths of human misery and degradation has a traumatic effect.” Moreover, the trauma is not limited to individuals.

In the case of the French-Algerian conflict, a scar remains on French society because of this history of torture. This ought to be a caution for us. Evil knows no boundaries. When we unleash it, even in response to evil, it washes over us all and corrupts. Torture is evil. That is why it is done in the dark. That is why we ought to bring it to light and hold those who ordered torture in our name to account. http://blog.sojo.net/2009/04/23/torture-memos-what-is-done-in-the-dark/

Dr. Valerie Elverton Dixon is an independent scholar who publishes lectures and essays at JustPeaceTheory.com. She received her Ph.D. in religion and society from Temple University and taught Christian ethics at United Theological Seminary and Andover Newton Theological School.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Torture In US Goes Unprosecuted Beyond Gitmo (VIDEO)

By John Hamilton

Finally, there's been a criminal indictment for acts of torture.

No, this isn't a case involving CIA operatives waterboarding high-value detainees. It's not a case, either, involving the Justice Department lawyers who redefined torture to allow for such niceties as "walling," "sleep deprivation," and "insects placed in a confinement box."

It's a case involving a 16-year-old runaway in the town of Tracy, a dusty suburb of Stockton surrounded by the farms of California's central valley. Husband and wife Michael Schumacher and Kelly Lau Schumacher and two accomplices stand accused of keeping the teen shackled as a prisoner in their home, where he says he was starved, repeatedly beaten with a baseball bat, and burned with corrosive chemicals. This month a grand jury indicted the four suspects on seventeen counts, including kidnapping, aggravated mayhem, and torture. This June they will stand trial for their alleged crimes. If convicted, they face sentences of up to life in prison.<

The Tracy case reminds us--as if we needed a reminder--that torture is among the most serious crimes that one human being can inflict on another. It's on a par with rape, with slavery, or murder. The U.S. felony statute against torture calls for up to 20 years in prison for anyone committing the act, or conspiring to commit torture.

Yet a number of well-documented cases of torture have gone unpunished. At secret prisons operated overseas by the CIA, and at military prisons at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, detainees in the "War on Terror" were subjected to physical abuse, prolonged sleep deprivation, and an infamous simulated drowning known as "waterboarding." Such torments would have been at home in that God-forsaken home in Tracy. Instead, they were official U.S. policy.

So what happens when those who ordered the crime of torture are high-ranking officials in the executive branch? What if the torturers were CIA and military officers, answering to the Attorney General, the Vice President, the National Security Advisor, or even the President himself? Can these people be held to account?

I set out to try to answer that question in a new documentary I created for Link TV, "Torture on Trial".

Story continues below

In his relatively few public comments on the issue, President Obama has taken a firm stand against torture, but has gone to great lengths to avoid answering questions about whether officials in the former Bush administration should be held to account for violations of U.S. and international laws. Responding to a question from Huffington Post reporter Sam Stein about whether to prosecute former Bush administration officials, the President said that, "nobody's above the law and, if there are clear instances of wrongdoing, that people should be prosecuted just like any ordinary citizen." But he hedged against prosecutions, saying that, "generally speaking, I'm more interested in looking forward than I am in looking backwards."

But the door to accountability is not closed. Though he has said he does not favor a Congressional inquiry, Obama has--grudgingly--said that it is up to the attorney general to investigate whether laws were broken.

So while accountability remains an option, how might it take place?

For starters, accountability could mean the impeachment of Judge Jay Bybee of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, or the disbarment of John Yoo. At the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, the pair co-authored a serious of now-infamous memos that argued an interrogation technique crossed the line into the realm of torture only if it produced pain equivalent to what a prisoner might experience during "organ failure...or even death."

Accountability might take shape through a non-partisan commission of inquiry--as Senate Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy has suggested--similar to the 9/11 commission. Though the Obama administration has blown the lid off many of the dirty secrets of the Bush administration's interrogation tactics, there are still a great many unanswered questions swirling around the issue of torture. The task of reconstructing the past was made much more difficult after the CIA admitted its agents destroyed 92 videotapes showing "enhanced interrogation" methods used against detainees.

Finally, accountability might mean the appointment of a special prosecutor by the attorney general. That could ultimately culminate in real prosecutions of those found to have committed felony acts of torture.

The interrogation rooms of Guantanamo are a long way from the Schumacher's two-storey home in Tracy. But torture is torture. Shouldn't the law apply equally to all those who mete it out?

John Hamilton is a producer with Link TV, a nationwide television network available in more than 31 million U.S. homes as a basic service on DIRECTV channel 375 and DISH Network channel 9410. Select programs are shown on more than 50 urban cable systems, including New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. "Torture on Trial" premieres on Link TV this Sunday, May 3rdat 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT, and will be viewable in its entirety online at LinkTV.org

Torture. The word appears almost daily in the headlines of newspapers across the country. As long-held secrets of the Bush administration's policies on detention and interrogation are revealed, Americans are increasingly asking questions: behind the closed doors of far-away prisons, what acts were committe d in our name? Who committed these acts? And will they be held to account? Can a nation that has committed torture afford to walk away from its past?

(Global Pulse: April 24, 2009) Obama declassifies Bush administration documents that detail and attempt to legalize what some have called "torture techniques."

While the U.S media seem focused on the political ramifications, media worldwide present the brutality of torture and point the finger of blame directly at Bush.

SOURCES: FOX, CBS, ABC, CNN, The Daily Show, U.S; TV5, France; Press TV, Iran; TVN, Chile; Al Jazeera English, Qatar

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Help Save Friendship Park

http://afscimmigration.blogspot.com/search/label/border

Friendship Park Featured in NYT

A recent New York Times article focuses on the new fencing plans to divide Friendship Park in California. Representative Bob Filner (D-CA) has urged the Department of Homeland Security not to build the fencing in the park, the Times reports. "It’s harmful to the kind of family culture we have at the border," said Rep. Filner.

"We have a friendly country at the border. We have family ties across the border. It is one place, certainly in San Diego, where we talk about friendship at the border,” Filner said.

Please join us in reaffirming the park's mission and calling for a more sensible and humane immigration policy. Contact your Congressperson today. Urge them to "Save Friendship Park."

Thank you for your adding your voice of support for the public park and the basic rights and dignity of all. http://jholslin.blogspot.com/2009/04/today-i-took-stand-stopping-bulldozers.html

PBS Video on Border Fence

The
PBS program NOW focuses on the border fence in this new video. NOW traveled to Texas to meet families on the U.S.-Mexico border who
fear losing their property, their safety, and their way of life. You can take action by sending
a letter to your member of Congress to call for a more sensible, effective
and humane immigration policy.

Help Save Friendship Park

As
I write, a public park that represents the international friendship between the
U.S. and Mexico is being divided and walled off by the Department of Homeland Security. Please
join us in reaffirming the park's mission and calling for a more sensible
and humane immigration policy.

For generations, friends and families from San Diego and Tijuana have gathered
peacefully in Friendship
Park at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. Now Border Patrol agents threaten this
tradition by questioning and detaining people who visit this special public space.

The struggle to save the park is a troubling symbol of the failures in the U.S. immigration policy. The U.S. doesn't need more fences built or immigrants rounded up, detained and often summarily deported. Those punitive measures don't 'solve' our immigration concerns. Instead, what we need is a workable system that provides a fair path to permanent residency and keeps families together.

The park is not just being damaged symbolically. The extra fences being installed
disrupt the quality of life of border communities and damage the delicate coastal
ecosystem. Please join us in contacting
your Congressperson today. Urge them to "Save Friendship Park."

AFSC Human Rights Advocate Released

At 10:00 pm on August 5th 2008 the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Border Patrol) released AFSC staff member, Christian Ramirez after nearly 6 hours of unjustified detention and without any charges against him. He was told of the many people who called from throughout the country urging that Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station officials to release him. The American Friends Service Committee thanks all who supported and ensured the release of Christian Ramirez and takes this opportunity to share his letter with you:

"Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am truly moved by the outpouring of support. Thank you so much for the many emails and calls. I am also grateful for the outstanding effort of my friends and colleagues in San Diego; without their coordination, I will still be detained. There are many things I want to say, I was detained and then arrested for visiting a park where north meets south and the Pacific crashes against the land, a park that I have visited all of my life. I was detained and arrested for bearing witness to the ongoing destruction of that park, for a triple fence will bypass the last place where families can still come together, and see each other through the wall of death that separates our families and communities.

I was able to capture onvideo most of the incident. My camera, video, and cell phone were all returned. I was detained for two hours at the park and for four (under arrest) at a Border Patrol Station. I spent the four hours in a cell of about 6 feet wide by 8 feet long. I was released as a result of all of your calls.

Just last Sunday, communities from Tijuana and San Diego came together at the park for an ecumenical gathering. Hundreds of people attended on both sides of the border, including my family.On the Tijuana side, my grandmother sat on a lawn chair flanked by my aunts, uncles laughed, we smiled, we sang together and for that moment the 10 foot wall between us disappeared. After the event ended, we said our goodbyes; I stretched my fingers through the fence and touched my grandmother's fingers, the only parts of our bodies' small enough to cross through. It was only at that moment the wall reappeared with its entire monstrosity.

This special space has been known as Friendship Park. In my mind and the mind of many here in the San Diego-Tijuana border region, a high wall or other barriers will never take our friendship away, and most certainly not our dignity.Join us as we endeavor to ensure that Friendship Park can be a space for friendship, family gatherings and the peaceful co-existence of two communities. Greetings and again my deepest thanks to the many colleagues friends, family and faith voices
who took action for my release.

Desde la herida abierta - la frontera (From the open wound - the border) Su humilde servidor, Christian Ramirez"
http://smartborders.wordpress.com/tag/brownsville/

A Divided Friendship

The Department of Homeland Security plans to erect a triple fence across Friendship
Park in San Diego, California where the international boundary meets the Pacific Ocean. Friends and families from San Diego and Tijuana have gathered for generations at this historic meeting place. In 1971 former first lady Pat Nixon, dedicated a monument to friendship in the park, which sits on the border between the US and Mexico. The first fence constructed in the
park now cuts the monument in half. Construction inside the Park begins the first week in August.

Faith Communities to Hold Gathering to Save Friendship Park

To express opposition to the proposed construction, and the increased fencing along the U.S. border overriding environmental laws, local residents will gather at Friendship Park on this
coming Sunday, August 3 at 2 p.m. All faith traditions are welcome at the interfaith gathering. Participants are invited to share in friendship, meditation, prayer and communion. For more information contact Christian Ramirez, AFSC San Diego, cramirez@afsc.org. or the AFSC San Diego office at 619-233-4114. http://www.friendshippark.org/ The University of California San Diego Department of Communications has produced a timely video overview of the threat to Border Field State Park. To watch the video click here.

Congress' Deadline for Fence Falls Short of Border Reality

http://smartborders.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/native-americans-take-a-stand-on-the-border-wall/

Legal Hurdle Side-stepped For Now
by Daniela Martinez Moreno
AFSC Special Projects Policy Fellow

Developments in lawsuits between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Texas landowners indicate that the Congressional timeline for border fence construction fails to account for residents' rights. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found "difficulties in acquiring rights to border lands" as a factor in problems meeting deadlines for the border fence.

DHS Announces Waiver of Environmental Laws to Build Fence

Furthermore, DHS has announced that it will waive federal environmental laws to move forward in the building of the 670 miles of border fence. House Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said the waiver "represents an extreme abuse of authority" (Washington Post). During yesterday's DHS oversight hearing, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said the fence "seemed to be a mean-spirited and costly effort" especially to landowners.DHS sued 50 Texas landowners who oppose government requests to grant survey access to their private property. Over 25 landowners testified at a federal hearing that the government made no attempt to negotiate a price for accessing their land before the lawsuit began (Houston Chronicle)

University Reaches Agreement with DHS for Access to Campus

In a landmark move, DHS dismissed its lawsuit against the University of Texas-Brownsville and Texas Southmost College (UTB-TSC) last month after the parties reached an agreementhours before a scheduled court appearance. Judge Hanen hopesthat the agreement will serve as a model for similar cases. However, the DHS lawsuits with other landowners remain unresolved.

Enforcement-Only Bills Fail to Heed Lessons from Texas

Despite opposition to the border fence from South Texas residents, members of Congress continue to push for an enforcement-only approach that fails to offer constructive solutions for immigration reform. This month, ten Senators introduced a package of enforcement-only bills.

The package includes the Complete the Fence Act (S. 2712) introduced by Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC). The bill would require DHS to complete at least 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the southwest border
by December 31, 2010.

Senators Disagree: Call Enforcement-Only Bills "Unworkable" and "Unbalanced"

The enforcement-only bill package received criticism from Senators who played critical roles in previous immigration debates. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), said his colleagues are offering "unworkable solutions to complex immigration issues that only make the problem worse." Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) said while "mainstream America knows full well that the immigration system is broken, they also recognize that "an unbalanced, narrow approach won't fix it."

AFSC Calls for Upholding the Rights and Dignity of Border Residents

The American Friends Service Committee's (AFSC) decades of work with allies and communities along the southern border include programs in California, Texas and Arizona. AFSC's on-the-ground-work with communities most directly impacted by DHS physical changes to the terrain and to the community ignores the voices and quality of life of border residents, many who have lived in the area for decades. AFSC reiterates its call for constructive and humane solutions to immigration issues including policies that are rooted in support the human rights of, the environment including the natural habitat of local wildlife endangered animals, and the quality of life of communities and families that have lived along the U.S. border for decades.

Changes to Border Fence Language Debated As Property Owners Oppose Intrusion

by Daniela Martinez Moreno
AFSC Special Projects Policy Fellow

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's (R-TX) amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill (H.R. 2764) signed into law last month caused a flurry of action in the House of Representatives. Provisions in Hutchison's amendment:

- Require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to "consult with the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, States, local government, Indian tribes, and property owners in the United States to minimize the impact on the environment, culture, commerce, and quality of life for the communities and residents located near the sites" of fence construction;

- Mandate the construction of 700 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, out of which 370 miles must be completed by the end of 2008; and,

- Provide the Secretary of Homeland Security discretion to determine whether or not the placement of fencing along an international border of the United States is "the most appropriate means to achieve and maintain operational control over the international border at such location".

According to the Senator, her amendment takes a positive step towards construction of the border fence by requiring consultation with landowners and local elected officials, many of whom feel ignored by the federal government as it continues to plan the building of 130 miles of fencing in Texas (Houston Chronicle).

In addition, the Senator claims that all eight Senators representing the four border states - Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), John McCain (R-AZ), Pete Domenici (R-NM), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) - are co-sponsors of the amendment's border-fence language. A number of border fence proponents in Congress criticized Hutchison's amendment for changing the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which mandates the construction of 700 miles of double-layered, reinforced border fencing. However, Senator Hutchison asserts that her amendment is not about whether or not the fence will be constructed, but when and how it will be constructed.

House Members Target Hutchison Amendment

In response to Senator Hutchison's amendment, three members of the House of Representatives introduced border-enforcement bills that modify or repeal certain sections of the amendment.

On January 15, Representative Jim Marshall (D-GA) introduced the Immigration Law Corrections Act of 2008 (H.R. 4960). This bill strikes a paragraph in the Hutchison amendment, which gives the Secretary of Homeland Security discretion regarding border fence placement.

The following day, Representatives Walter Jones (R-NC) and Peter King (R-NY), the original sponsor of the Secure Fence Act of 2006, introduced the "Fence by Date Certain Act" (H.R. 4987). Representative Jones argued that Hutchison's amendment weakens the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (H.R. 6061) by stripping its requirement that the fencing be double-layered at
specific areas of the border, and completed by certain dates. His bill requires
700 miles of double-layered fencing to be constructed by June 30, 2009.

On January 23, Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA), author of the Secure Fence
Act of 2006 fencing provisions, introduced
the "Reinstatement of the Secure Fence Act of 2008" (H.R.
5124). Representative Hunter's bill strips the provision in Senator Hutchison's
amendment that requires the Department of Homeland Security to consult with
the local government, Indian tribes, and U.S. property owners. In addition,
the proposed legislation mandates the construction of at least 700 miles of
double-layered border fencing in locations determined by the Secretary of DHS
within 6 months of the bill's enactment. Representative Hunter inaccurately
claims
that "consultation" language could open fence construction to many challenges.
The language in the Hutchison amendment does not require that DHS abide by decisions
of the consultation. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0402/p12s01-usgn.html

Hutchison
Amendment Does Little for Locals Protesting Border Fence

Regardless of Hutchison's amendment, the failure of a recent lawsuit involving DHS fence construction indicates that local community efforts to stop construction
of the fence face an uphill struggle. On January 30, the Justice Department sued six Texas property owners in Cameron County who refused to grant DHS access to their land for border fence surveying (Houston Chronicle). Their collective action came in defiance of Brownsville Federal District Court Judge Andrew Hanen's rule on January 29 requiring that the property owners allow DHS officials access to their land.

Border town community members and local officials alike continue to be frustrated by DHS attempts to disrupt their way of life by imposing the construction of a fence. Whether double-layered or not, building a fence at the border has never proven to be a long-term, practical solution to the immigration dilemma. Once again, local property owners and border communities are receiving the brunt end of the deal as their quality of life is disturbed and altered.

Sara Ibrahim
American Friends Service Committee Human Migration and Mobility/Project VOICE Policy Impact Coordinator sibrahim@afsc.org

Topics

A New Path Report; immigration policy recommendations(2)

about(1)

African Americans (1)

Arizona (1)

asylum (1)

benefits (1)

border (7)

Chicago (1)

children (3)

detainees (1)

detention (10)

Dr. King (1)

driver's license (1)

economic justice (1)

families

Friday, April 24, 2009

wearechange.org

The Obama Deception is a hard-hitting film that completely destroys the myth that Barack Obama is working for the best interests of the American people.

The Obama phenomenon is a hoax carefully crafted by the captains of the New World Order. He is being pushed as savior in an attempt to con the American people into accepting global slavery.

We have reached a critical juncture in the New World Order'splans. It's not about Left or Right: it's about a One World Government. The international banks plan to loot the people of the United States and turn them into slaves on a Global Plantation.

Covered in this film: who Obama works for, what lies he has told, and his real agenda. If you want to know the facts and cut through all the hype, this is the film for you

Watch the Obama Deception and learn how:

- Obama is continuing the process of transforming America into something that resembles Nazi Germany, with forced National Service, domestic civilian spies, warrantless wiretaps, the destruction of the Second Amendment, FEMA camps and Martial Law.

- Obama's handlers are openly announcing the creation of a new Bank of the World that will dominate every nation on earth through carbon taxes and military force.

- International bankers purposefully engineered the worldwide financial meltdown to bankrupt the nations of the planet and bring in World Government.

- Obama plans to loot the middle class, destroy pensions and federalize the states so that the population is completely dependent on the Central Government.

- The Elite are using Obama to pacify the public so they can usher in the North American Union by stealth, launch a new Cold War and continue the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The information contained in this film is vital to the future of the Republic and to freedom worldwide. President Barack Obama is only the tool of a larger agenda. Until all are made aware, humanity will remain captive to the masters of the New World Orderhttp://www.wearechange.org/

Thursday, April 23, 2009

amnesty international usa - torture debate ???

Last Friday President Obama said this was a time for "reflection,
not retribution"; less than a week later, national newspapers are reporting the President is now open to an investigation.²

Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney

Now that the ball is rolling, we need you to put a call into Senator McCain to ask for an open and independent investigation. Senator McCain has helped fight against torture in the past, and you can help enlist your Senator in the fight now.

Just as President Obama has warmed to the idea over the last week, so too must others in Washington if we're ever going to fully expose all these dirty, little secrets about torture that have been kept from us for far too long.

But what kind of investigation? There's a growing risk that we may get an investigation that lacks independence, legal authority, and the adequate funding necessary to tell the full truth about the illegal, U.S. torture program.

Call Senator McCain at (202) 224-2235 or (602) 952-2410. Use the points outlined below to help describe the kind of full and independent investigation you want into torture.

We need a commission that has these qualities:

Non-partisan
Independent and free from political influences
Has subpoena power and enough money to track down every lead ³

Help Senator McCain also understand:

If the United States wants to be a beacon of justice and the rule of law abroad the U.S. needs to practice it at home.
Numerous interrogators, generals, and admirals have stated that abuses committed during interrogations are not only illegal, but also counter-productive and hurt our government's ability to collect accurate and timely intelligence.
Senate investigations have found that abuse at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib was not the work of a few rogue actors but the direct result of sanctioned policies.

We really want to know how the Senator responded to your call. Please
take a quick moment to let us know how it went. Even with the
release of this classified report, we still only know a portion of the truth.
And it's only by exposing the full truth of what was done in our names, that
we can once and for all move forward and restore our nation's credibility.

Let's make sure whatever investigation moves forward, it's backed by the authority and support it needs to be effective.

In just one week, we've gone from seeing an investigation as a long shot, to talking about what kind of investigation we need. Your actions, phone calls, and visits before Congress are making an impact. We're getting closer to seeing our government actually do the right thing.

Thanks for standing with us.

Njambi Good
Director, Counter Terror with Justice Campaign

1 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/us/politics/22report.html?hp

2 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/21/AR2009042102187.html

3 http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGAMR511512008

Monday, April 20, 2009

obama deception

The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamal-dajani/the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is_b_185585.html

The 49 suspects include Egyptians, Palestinians, and Lebanese. They were reportedly arrested six months ago. According to a statement released by prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah is directly implicated in the case and accused of ordering his group to carry out "hostile operations" inside Egypt after his call to both the Egyptian people and the army to turn against the ruling regime.

Meanwhile, an Egyptian newspaper editor-in-chief (known to be a mouthpiece for the Egyptian government) dubbed Nasrallah an "Iranian agent", "funeral profiteer", and even "Dracula".

In an editorial published in the Egyptian daily El Gomhoria, Ali Ibrahim wrote that "Nasrallah is worse than Israel since he is trying to hurt the livelihood of the same Egyptians who supported him during the Second Lebanon War."

But many Egyptians are not buying it.

"Hassan Nasrallah is a hero. He is the only Arab leader who stood up against Israel. Hosni Mubarak is a corrupt U.S. puppet," I was told by a Cairo-based journalist on condition of anonymity.

During a recent demonstration in Cairo, several people carried Nasrallah's pictures. His pictures can also be seen in coffee shops, stores and on car windows in Egypt. His name is chanted during anti-Israeli protests.

During the Israeli Operation Cast Lead on Gaza, Hezbollah's leader called on the Egyptian people and armed forces to compel their leaders and open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. His statement drew a fierce response from Cairo.

"You are a man who used to enjoy respect, but you have insulted the Egyptian people," responded Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

Egypt-Hezbollah relations have deteriorated since Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak criticized the movement for recklessness at the outset of the 2006 war with Israel.

Why the arrests now?

The announcement of the arrests comes at a time of regional polarization between Egypt and Saudi Arabia on the one hand, and Syria and Shiite Iran on the other. The "crackdown" on Hezbollah appears to tie into Saudi Arabia's concerted effort to raise the specter of the Iranian-Shiite threat to the Arab world. The real target in the arrests is Iran.

Both Hezbollah and the Gaza-based Hamas are supported by Iran, which has a longstanding dispute with Egypt. Egypt and Iran have not had full diplomatic relations since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, when Iran cut ties after former president Anwar Sadat hosted the deposed Shah in Cairo.

Meanwhile, a couple of weeks ago, Amos Gilad, a top Israeli Defense Ministry official speaking at a ceremony marking 30 years for Israel-Egypt peace deal, said that Egypt was Israel's "partner" in the struggle against Iran's nuclear program, adding that President Hosni Mubarak has made it clear that Cairo would not accept a nuclear Iran.

As the old saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Hosni Mubarak & Benjamin Netanyahu vs. Ahmadinejad & Hassan Nasrallah.

Could it be?

Everything is possible in the Middle East.

Update: I've just finished watching a televised rebuttal by Hassan Nasrallah to the Egyptian accusations. He said that (my quick translation from Arabic) "If helping the Palestinian people is considered a crime... I confess
to committing this crime... it is the Egyptian regime that must be condemned today". He also denied a conspiracy against Egypt and said that the prosecutor should "join the cinema after he retires...I'd like to deny that Hezbollah has any intent in committing any attacks or creating any instabilities or attacking anyone in Egypt"

Jamal Dajani produces the Mosaic Intelligence Report on Link TV.

http://www.linktv.org/discussions/viewthread/1177

OR IS THE ENEMY OF MY FRIEND MY 'FRIEND'?
You know the Palestinian/Arabian people have NEVER DONE ANYTHING consistently bad,to the USA.Now that's what I class as a friend!
Yet,the US Govt. CONTINUE to unconditionally fund,arm,and condone Israels MURDEROUS,TORTUROUS ACTIONS toward all their non-Jewish neighbors,with OUR MONEY,WEAPONS,FUEL...FREE!
Now WHY WOULD OUR Government DO THAT wehen Israel does THIS to America,since WW2? READ! Very carefully,these FACTS,especially the last 1-2-3 decades,up to the present day,and consider WHY US Congresspersons like Jane Harman(One of many) should DEFEND anti-American criminals. And remember, that many of the names here are STILL high up in US Govt, or STILL UNPROSECUTED for ESPIONAGE. Including "MEGA"(wink wink).
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/motherofallscandals.html?q=motherofallscandals.html
So! WHO ARE OUR REAL FRIENDS?
Peace,Salaam,Shalom.

Hosni Mubarak IS only a puppet!
And he has the WOODEN HEAD AND HEART to prove it.
What honorable man would LET ALL THIS humanitarian aid rot in the outdoors,when 1.5 MILLION men,women and children and HIS FELLOW ARAB PEOPLE,are suffering SO MUCH just past the Rafah gate? Hosni! You're a CHEAP,soul-less HOOKER.
People who cared,all OVER THE WORLD collected all this aid together because they CARE about the plight and TORTURE of the Gazan/Palestinian Arab people. Hosni! You back-stabbing,double dealing dog-dictator.
You INSULT the Egyptians,Arab peoples and HUMANITY! SHAME AND DISGRACE ON YOU!
Peace,Salaam,Shalom. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46504

Puppets can dance well when their strings are pulled, especially when they are getting PAID REALLY WELL! Wink! Wink! LOL! Have you ever seen a PUPPET stand up on its own when the strings ARE CUT?
Noooooo! They flop to the ground, impotent,useless!

And,I've never heard a DECENT,original,populus-based word spoken by a puppet!
It's always scripted robotic comedic propaganda hogwash, and SO FAR FROM REALITY!

Mubarak is not the voice of millions of Egyptian people. He's just the Egyptian interpreter of the US political zionist-led White House voice. Which is ironical,because not even the White house speaks for 280 MILLION Americans now. It Governs DESPITE the people, not "of, by and for".

Hosni's a 'hooker',Israel is the client,the US is the 'pimp'. What a ponzi scheme! He's not PAID by America to represent his Egyptian people or allow real 'Democracy'. He's paid to be a colonial GATE-KEEPER dinosaur between the Arab world and Israel and pretends to be "democratic", in a shiny silk-suit, yet remains a brutal dictator while his millions of people remain POOR and oppressed,and Egypt falls to economical pieces(just what Israel wants),just like Lebanon,Jordan. Mubarak doesn't even have to think! lol! Just do as America says,be 'NICE',and do as Israel says, or we won't PAY Mubarak-

the 2nd biggest recipient, in the Middle East, of US tax-payer money annually AFTER Israel, -his ALLOWANCE.
Ahmadinejad is not the voice of millions of Iranian people. He also is just a PUPPET,of the Ayatollah,the Supreme Leader,who pulls his 'strings' and saying "lip-sync this Mahmoud". lol! And still,millions of Iranians are suppressed, in prison and in poverty.

Kind Abdullah of Saudi is just a paid OIL/WEAPONS puppet,and lip-syncs the script written for him by the political pro-Israeli Zionists in the White House. He is a lap-dancer dictator of American oil cartels, just like his dad.
He, also,does not speak for the Saudi people and keeps thousands there,in prison, oppression and poverty!

Musharraf was the same.Brutal Dictator American puppet.The Shah of Iran was the same.Brutal Dictator American puppet.
New boy,Hamed Karzai is the same,though he is getting out of favor for not lip-syncing the US script well,like a good lil' US puppet.
Israel is the same,even to many Israelis never mind ANYONE else non-Jewish!It's just a brutal dictator,murdering rogue failed state,that HAPPENS to have 300++ ILLEGAL nuclear/chemical weapons,and STILL proliferates at DIMONA, and couldn't survive without its annual US allowance.

All puppet dictators pretending to be "DEMOCRATIC", lol! About as "Democratic" as Hitler!
No wonder these brutal puppets make Hamas and Hezballah look like PHILANTHROPIC, HEROIC, ROBIN HOODS, fighting the corrupt rich few,for the POVERTY STRICKEN,tortured masses. At least the words of the FREEDOM FIGHTERS, GUERRILLAS,such as these two POLITICAL PARTIES,who were democratically elected, in free/fair elections,by the majority of the ORDINARY people, actually ECHO the

feelings of MILLIONS of people,all over the Near/Middle East,Asia,and AMERICA,who are SICK of brutal dancing MARIONETTES,with no true voice, BRAINS or GONADS! I am not that keen,either,on Hamas or Hezballah,but I respect the fact that they were elected by the majority of their peoples. Hamas and Hezballah are merely the Freedom Fighters of the POPULUS OPPRESSED,and suffering many. That choice is WORTHY of respect because it was a free and democratic choice,and as an AMERICAN,I BELIEVE IN THAT, still! They are the STERN GANGS, LIKUD, HAGANAGH, IRA, PLO of today.

The crux of the whole mess is ISRAEL V the rest of the Arab/Muslim/Christian world!
And the UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT that our US government lavishes on Israel at the expense of MILLIONS OF OTHER INNOCENT PEOPLE WORLD-WIDE. Israel even has the US Government dancing to its BRUTAL TUNE,called BLACKMAIL!!!! Which is DISGRACEFUL,and TOTALLY ILLEGAL!

Israel is the biggest threat to US National and Internatonal Security.
And no amount of dancing wooden-headed 'puppets'can hide that.Israel is busting its gut to hit Iran.
AMERICA WON'T HELP UNLESS there is a good 'LEGAL',excuse.Especially after the farce of Iraq,Afghanistan,Pakistan. The US Government knows AMERICANS are against PRE-EMPTIVE OFFENSIVES,which are ILLEGAL and tantamount to ILLEGAL ACTS OF WAR! The US is already in enough deep doo-doo,and has ALIENATED itself from many Nations globally,all because of greed, resources,and ISRAEL.Israeli terrorist/lunatics like Netanyahu,Lieberman,Barak etc,are pushing Obama to pull their foreign 'puppets' strings HARDER,against Hamas and Hezballah(IRAN),because Israel wants a war with Iran,and AMERICANS DO NOT!

Americans are SICK of Israel and mopping up the blood they spill!
Israel has to come out of everything looking like the VICTIM instead of the KILLER, which invariably they ARE!
Obama! Stop pulling the puppets strings at the behest of Israel.
Israel! Stop waving IMAGINARY false-flags.We've had enough of them too!
If Israel wants to hit on Iran,then let them do it,ALONE!
We will not come running with tissues for Israel crocodile,'victim' tears,or mops and buckets and guns to clean up Israels bigotted,racist mess AGAIN! The puppet,of a murderer,is STILL a puppet in evil hands. And NO friend!
Peace,Salaam,Shalom.

A war of words between the Egyptian government and the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah has escalated after Egypt's public prosecutor recently ordered 49 people held for plotting attacks on behalf of Hezbollah be kept in custody for an additional 15 days.

The 49 suspects include Egyptians, Palestinians, and Lebanese. They were reportedly arrested six months ago. According to a statement released by prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah is directly implicated in the case and accused of ordering his group to carry out "hostile operations" inside Egypt after his call to both the Egyptian people and the army to turn against the ruling regime.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamal-dajani/the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is_b_185585.html !!!!!!!America's richest people meet to discuss ways of tackling a 'disastrous' environmental, social and industrial threat!!!!!!!!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Jesus in Afghanistan

Four Points Toward Peace in the Middle East

by Brian McLaren 04-16-2009

I’ve written a lot on Palestine and Gaza in recent years. Any of us who travel (or read) know that peace in the world can’t be separated from peace in Israel — peace for Jews, and peace for Muslim and Christian Palestinians. There is probably no single issue more important to helping Muslims and Christians and Jews live in peace world-wide than resolving the crisis of peace in Israel.

Not long ago I posted this song about the conflict:

In the coming months, I hope that more and more of us — especially those of us from evangelical backgrounds — will start speaking out on this subject, addressing four key issues with courage, passion, and persistence:

1. The equal rights of both Jewish and Palestinian people to security, equity, and prosperity, and the equal responsibilities of both groups to seek, not just good for “their own,” but the common good of all.

2. The need to confront the terrible, deadly, distorted, yet popular theologies associated with Christian Zionism and deterministic dispensationalism. These systems of belief — so common among my fellow evangelical Christians — too often lead people to act as if Jewish people have God-given rights but Palestinians do not. They use a discredited hermeneutic (way of interpreting the Bible) to imply that God shows favoritism — that God is concerned for justice for one group of people and not for others. They create bigotry and prejudice against Muslims in general … and in particular against Palestinians, many of whom are Muslim but many of whom are Christian too. These doctrinal formulations often use a bogus end-of-the-world scenario to create a kind of death-wish for World War III, which — unless it is confronted more robustly by the rest of us — could too easily create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

If you hold to a deterministic-dispensationalist or Zionist theology, I sincerely hope you will rethink your view. I grew up with these views as well, and have become thoroughly convinced that they are not only biblically unfaithful but also, in too many cases, morally and ethically harmful. I know that rethinking these things can make your life more difficult — friends, church members, and even family members may reject you, for example. But think back to the 1950s and 1960s: Wasn’t it necessary for many Christians to have the courage to differ when racism was acceptable and even justified in most American churches? Wouldn’t you want to have the same moral courage today you would have wanted to have back then?

If you are unwilling to reconsider your commitment to deterministic-dispensationalist or Zionist theology, I hope you will at least try to avoid extremist tendencies by your colleagues who share these beliefs, so you can be faithful to the scriptures that tell us God is not a respecter of persons, that God shows no partiality (try James 2, for example), that God cares about “the least of these,” and that love never rejoices in evil. If you are open and willing to rethink your views, here are three books I’d encourage you to read:

In God’s Time: The Bible and the Future

The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation

Blood Brothers

The longstanding atrocity of anti-Semitism of Christian history is a horrible atrocity that must be faced and repented of, and Christian Zionists should be applauded for wanting to turn the page on the anti-Semitism that was tragically common in church history. But we must remember that the cure to an old bigotry is not a new bigotry: It is a realization that God is creator of all people, that all people equally bear the image of God, and that the prosperity, equity, and security of some cannot be purchased at the expense of others.

3. The need to see and name injustice wherever it appears — in our allies as well as in our enemies — and to oppose injustice wherever it occurs. A case could be made that injustices committed by our allies hurt our national interests more than injustices committed by enemies … which means that we, as individuals and as religious and political participants, must call for an end to land theft being suffered by Palestinians, just as we must call for an end to all forms of violence and terrorism being perpetrated against Jewish people in Israel

4. The need to face the same injustices in our own history in the U.S. (or wherever we live). For example, the treatment of Palestinians in Israel bears many similarities to the treatment of Native Americans and racial minorities in the U.S. (right up until today) … both forms of bigotry have been theologically “justified” using lots of Bible quotations, and both require a change in theology — and a change in heart — so they can be healed.

Brian McLaren (brianmclaren.net) is a speaker and author, most recently of Everything Must Change and Finding Our Way Again.

http://blog.sojo.net/2009/04/16/four-points-toward-peace-in-the-middle-east/

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Did you have a good Easter weekend? If you were in Washington D.C. for the holiday, you may have noticed a different kind of Easter Bunny hanging around the Gallery Place/Chinatown metro. Instead of handing out jellybeans and chocolate, this bunny was handing out plastic eggs filled with a little toy soldier and a question about the war in Afghanistan. Here are a few examples of those questions:

“Without a clear mission, is escalating Afghanistan like escalating Vietnam?”

“What is the impact of the war in Afghanistan on the U.S. economy?”

“Should the United States stop using predator drones and assassination teams?” (civilians kills woman kids !!!!)

“Has anybody tried to find out what the people of Afghanistan want?” (Jesus Easter !!!!!)

These are just some of the questions that the Rethink Afghanistan campaign is asking about the war in Afghanistan. Robert Greenwald, president of Brave New Foundation, is directing and producing a documentary on the war and releasing it in “real-time” segments over YouTube. In a New York Times article describing the time-sensitive nature of public policy (especially when it comes to the war in Afghanistan), Robert says, “It didn’t seem to make sense to make a film that would come out even six months from now.”

Instead, Robert plans to release several segments over YouTube as they are created and then eventually string them together for a full-length feature. In honor of tax day this week, Brave New Foundation has just released the third segment of the Rethink Afghanistan documentary, titled “Cost of War.” (To see the first two segments, click on “Troops” and “Pakistan“; “Women’s Rights” and “Refugees” are still in production and will be released on YouTube as they are completed.)

The hope in all this is to contribute to the foreign policy debate and restore accountability to U.S. actions, especially military ones. Because I am a person of faith, I thought that Brave New Foundation’s Easter Bunny action was incredibly meaningful. There’s a new year, a new administration, and a renewed sense of hope and confidence that diverse (and even progressive!) voices are welcome and valued. For all you Sojourners, I also hope that this Easter Bunny and his questions signal the rebirth of a critical stance against violence and hyper-militarization, and a return to worshipping the God who triumphed over torture, execution, and the Roman empire.

Do you have some questions about the war in Afghanistan that you think Congress should ask? Join us on Facebook and submit a video question on our wall, or visit Rethink Afghanistan to write your question. Let’s push our Congress to ask the difficult questions and demand answers – before we commit even more money and more American lives to the conflict. http://blog.sojo.net/2009/04/16/video-the-easter-bunny-asks-you-to-rethink-afghanistan/

Anna Almendrala was a Sojourners intern from 2007-2008. She now lives in Los Angeles, California, and works for Brave New Foundation as the Marketing & Distribution associate. Follow her on Twitter to keep updated on the Rethink Afghanistan campaign. http://rethinkafghanistan.com/blog/

http://blog.sojo.net/2009/04/15/might-will-never-make-right-in-afghanistan/?continue

Might Will Never Make Right In Afghanistan

by Randy Woodley 04-15-2009

I consider myself a peacemaker and a patriot. I come from a long line of warriors and military servicemen. But, along with other Americans in my generation, the idea of blind patriotism died for me during the Vietnam War. Then, after my conversion in 1975, I found Jesus had much more to say about making peace than making war. I now understand peacemaking to be the first, the wisest, and the most critical act of courage and Christian faith. With all that said, I can say without hesitation that I consider the continuation of a war in Afghanistan to be pure foolishness. It is a war that we cannot win.

What qualifies me to make such a statement? Certainly the history of our involvement in the Middle East is complicated since our government has been covertly active in the politics of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Israel, etc. for many decades. We have sided with both “liberal” and “fundamentalist” despotic regimes in this ancient part of the world.

As a Native American, I made it a point to become a student of the 500 plus years of history between Native Americans and Euro-Americans. My ancestors suffered genocide, displacement, assimilation to colonialism, and now to modernism, at the hands of Euro-Americans and, in particular, at the hands of the United States Government. One needs only to see the other (often untold) side of history, such as the Native American viewpoint, to understand how imperialism works. The principals of conquest and exploitation still held by the United States cannot gain anything but a demoralizing loss in Afghanistan. Here are just a few of the reasons:

No One Size Fits All

The U.S. likes to poise itself as “the good guys against the bad.” History shows that we look for broad sweeping approaches to complex problems. These simplistic storylines “sell” to the American people. This is how the American Myth is made and perpetuated. The same thing happened with my ancestors when Native Americans were considered to be the terrorists. Generally, the process went like this: The government would find a few chiefs who would sign a document that betrayed the others, and the U.S. pretended like the whole group was represented. This happened in spite of the fact that they knew our own systems never allowed any one chief or individual to speak for everyone. It’s much the same in the remote areas of Afghanistan. Even if the chiefs speak for their tribes, they will be forced into a unilateralism that employs few local strategies.

Lack of Indigenization

Afghani ideas of governance are not the same as American ideas of democracy. In fact, democracy is a “by-word” to people in the region. The tribes and the central government of Afghanistan are not even settled on their relationship to each other (read Taliban), much less with the tenuous role that Pakistan must play. These indigenous ideas mean very little to the United States. Cultural concerns over how indigenous ideas develop and whether or not the cultures are worth preserving are not on the U.S. radar. If you don’t believe this, just recall the lack of cultural appreciation exhibited by the U.S. in allowing the looting of ancient Iraqi cultural treasures from their National Museum. The people of the region soon come to understand that if we care nothing for their culture, we care nothing for their people.

Inability to Train True Leaders for the Long Haul

Because of our intransigence we have a terrible record of finding and influencing honest indigenous leaders who will give themselves in the way that they choose, for the best of the ideas we espouse. Instead, part and parcel of siding with America most often means that leaders trained by us become betrayers to their own people and culture. This process just increases the likelihood of continued instability. In time, another group must rise up to take back their country from foreign ideology and influence.

Renewed Patriotism

I do love America and I have traveled most of it. I love the land. I lovethe people. And, I love the government when it acts in the best of true democratic ideas. Most often this has happened when the government made room for the people to carry out those altruistic ideas that both soldiers and activists have died to protect and preserve.

Unfortunately, if we act in the same ways we have in the past, anyone can see that we cannot win in Afghanistan. Even if our government is determined that we must intervene in Afghanistan, no matter how hard we try, might will never make right. Minimally, the end result of our intervention will be a continued unstable region, including the escalation of Pakistani involvement, massive suffering of innocent Afghani civilians, and the heartbreaking loss of life to U.S. soldiers. And, the terrorists will live to fight another day.

So what should we do to gain influence in the region? Instead of increasing our military for conflict, let’s send them as an army of builders. Equip them in providing culturally sensitive opportunities for education, human rights, creating medical facilities, micro-economic development, agronomists, peace-makers, etc. This is the kind of army we should be equipping. Sure, it sounds starry-eyed and simplistic, but this is the only kind of army that can win in Afghanistan. The old strategies will not work. Perhaps if we tried what I would call a more Christian approach, we might even find Jesus in Afghanistan.

Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley is a Keetoowah Cherokee Indian descendent and the author of Living in Color: Embracing God’s Passion for Ethnic Diversity. He teaches history, theology, and culture at George Fox Evangelical Seminary in Portland, Oregon.