Let Afghan Peace Activist Visit U.S.

Ask Secretary Clinton to let a leading Afghan peace activist visit the U.S.   Share this action on Facebook Share this action on Twitter  Dear Friend,   Dr. Wee Teck Young is a Singaporean physician and activist who has lived and worked in Afghanistan for years, organizing a group of young people called the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers.  They have worked to promote nonviolent alternatives, ethnic reconciliation, and an end to war.   Ask Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to let him visit the United States.   Dr. Wee shuns his official title, preferring “Hakim,” the name bestowed on him by Afghans after he had served as a public health doctor among refugees on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.  In the Dari language, “Hakim” means “learned one and local healer.”   This week, the Fellowship of Reconciliation awarded Hakim its International Peace Prize.  Also this week, the U.S. State Department refused to grant Hakim a visato visit the United States, where he would speak about nonviolence.   Urge Secretary of State Clinton to grant Hakim a visa.   Please forward this email widely to like-minded friends.   –The RootsAction team   P.S. Our small staff is supported by contributions from people like you; your donations are greatly appreciated.   P.P.S. RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, Coleen Rowley, and many others.   Resources: Voices for Creative Nonviolence: Seeking a Visa for Dr. Wee Teck Young Fellowship of Reconciliation: Annual Peace Awards David Swanson: Afghanistan: A Country, Not a War (with video of Hakim)

‘Occupy’ Protesters Now in DC

Next stop for Occupy movement — DC   Share this action on Facebook Share this action on Twitter  Dear world,   The Occupy movement is history-making. Starting today, tent cities are up in Freedom Plaza in D.C. Over 15,000 of you have signed the statement, “I Support These Protests.” Help us double that number by signing and sharing with your friends.Let’s send a strong message of support to protesters in DC who are pushing to bring war dollars home.   Here’s an update from RootsAction’s David Swanson who’s on the ground in D.C.   ———————–   Ten years ago tomorrow, the longest war in U.S. history began.  That’s ten years of missiles and bombs, ten years of kicking in doors and disappearing people, ten years of fighting and fundingthe Taliban, ten years of developing hatred of the United States, ten years of demolishing Afghanistan’s natural environment, and ten years of profiteering to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars a day.   And there’s no end in sight.   That’s why I’m writing to you from Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., where thousands of us have just begun an occupation planned months ago and energized in recent weeks by our brothers and sisters at OccupyWallStreet.  We’re bringing the occupation to the government that Wall Street corrupts — to the government that launches war without end.  Corporate exploitation abroad depends on the threat of war.  War funding depends on the defunding of human needs.   We aim to shift our public priorities.  These are our goals: •       Tax the rich and corporations •       End the wars, bring the troops home, cut military spending •       Protect the social safety net, strengthen Social Security and institute enhanced Medicare for All •       End corporate welfare for oil companies and other big business interests •       Transition to a clean energy economy, reverse environmental degradation •       Protect worker rights including collective bargaining, create jobs and raise wages •       Get money out of politics   If you share this agenda, as most of the U.S. public does, join us: http://occupywashingtondc.org   Whether you can join us or not, sign this statement of solidaritythat I will read to the people occupying our nation’s capital night and day.   Forward this everywhere.  Share it on FaceBook.  Tweet this tag: #oct6.  Tell the mainstream media the seven goals above are easy to understand!   Onward, David Swanson

The Video the US Military doesn’t want you to see!

The real face of war is unknown to people, because the media is not showing the real facts. The war is nothing but a bussines, where young men are sent to die, for some to get richer and richer. These are the horrors of the war. Please share!

Ex-Bush Official Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: “I am Willing to Testify” If Dick Cheney is Put on Trial

It was a powerful moment on Democracy Now this morning as a real insider promised to testify if

Dick Cheney was put on trial for torture and other crimes. With a new book full of explicit details,

this is reminder that nobody has been held accountable.

As former Vice President Dick Cheney publishes his long-awaited memoir, we speak to Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell. “This is a book written out of fear, fear that one day someone will ‘Pinochet’ Dick Cheney,” says Wilkerson, alluding to the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who was arrested for war crimes. Wilkerson also calls for George W. Bush and Cheney to be held accountable for their crimes in office. “I’d be willing to testify, and I’d be willing to take any punishment I’m due,” Wilkerson said. We also speak to Salon.com political and legal blogger Glenn Greenwald about his recent article on Cheney, “The Fruits of Elite Immunity.” “Dick Cheney goes around the country profiting off of this sleazy, sensationalistic, self-serving book, basically profiting from his crimes, and at the same time normalizing the idea that these kind of policies…are perfectly legitimate choices to make. And I think that’s the really damaging legacy from all of this,” says Greenwald. [includes rush transcript]

Read more: http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/30/ex_bush_official_col_lawrence_wilkerson

Light up L.A.’s skies

Light up L.A.’s skies with a reminder of war’s consequences

Donate today to help launch “The Remember Project”

Rethink Afghanistan is partnering with L.A.-based street artist Leba to create a deeply moving memorial to those who’ve been killed in Afghanistan, but we need your help. Can you contribute $10 to help us launch 1,500 floating lanterns from the rooftops of L.A. to educate and remind people about the consequences of this war? The Afghanistan War has been a 10-year disaster, with more than 1,500 U.S. troops killed and countless civilians dead. With most of the mainstream media working to sell militarism to our neighbors, it’s our responsibility to put the true human cost of this fiasco in the public mind. Leba is a street artist known for including social commentary in his art, and he’s busy creating “The Remember Project,” which will launch on September 8, 2011 at the Downtown L.A. Artwalk. The project will feature the names of the first 1,500 U.S. troops killed in the war etched onto floating lanterns to create a striking visual in the skies over Los Angeles, reminding people of the human tragedy of the Afghanistan War. This project, however, can’t launch without funding to finish crafting the lanterns. That’s why we’re coming to you. Please donate $10 and help us get Leba the funding he needs to launch “The Remember Project.” Your financial support will help keep the consequences of war front-and-center in people’s minds. Sincerely, Derrick Crowe, Robert Greenwald, and the Brave New Foundation team Donate today to help bring an end to this atrocious war that’s not making us any safer.