|
A funny thing happened at the September 20 Peace Vigil in
Pershing Square.
While working a table and circulating in the crowd of 400
or so folks, a sister was approached by someone who handed
her a disk, labeled "collected articles and internet
resources for the current crisis". This person left and
at this time we don't know who it was.
I was planning on making a reserch effort to find some of
the best background material on the web to post on a page
loke the one you are reading now. When I opened the disk,
I found a comprehensive and well rounded compilation of just
such material formatted as a series of web pages.
So, rather than attempt to redo the work donated by this
intrepid soul, and upon investigating the links, I present
here the material as given anonymously by a volunteer, with
no attempt to claim credit for the work they did. I salute
you, whoever you are, and acknowledge the assistance you've
given to me in my work on this site.
Peace, elbop
For a current list of the Coalition
For World Peace endorsing organizations, see the home
page
Video
What I've Learned About U.S. Foreign Policy
by Frank
Dorrel
My name is Frank Dorrel. I live in Culver
City, California. I consider myself to be a peace activist.
I am a Veteran for Peace. I work with the Save the Iraqi Children
Coalition, and with many of the other peace organizations
here in Los Angeles.
I put together video compilations on U.S.
foreign policy. My best video is called "WHAT I'VE LEARNED
ABOUT U.S. FOREIGN POLICY, CIA Covert Operations and U.S.
Interventions Since World War II- What You Didn't Learn in
School and Don't Hear on the Mainstream Media".
It is available for a $5 donation, plus postage.
I am willing to mail it to you before receiving payment. It
is a 2-hour compilation featuring 10 segments which I have
edited. They are as follows:
1. Martin
Luther King Jr., Civil rights leader who was killed after
he spoke out against the U.S. war in Vietnam.
2. John
Stockwell, Former CIA Chief of Station in Angola in 1975,
working for then CIA Director, George Bush Sr.
3. Bill Moyers' "The
Secret Government" Played on PBS-1987. Excellent!
4. "Coverup:Behind
the Iran-Contra Affair", What we did to Nicaragua. Narrated
by Elizabeth Montgomery. Produced by the Empowerment Project.
5. "School
of Assassins" with Father Roy Bourgeois on the School
of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia. Narrated by Susan
Sarandon.
6. "Genocide
by Sanctions" shows the effects of the sanctions in Iraq,
with Ramsey Clark talking to Iraqi doctors. Made by Gloria
La Riva.
7. "The
Panama Deception" Won the academy award for best documentary.
Narrated by Elizabeth Montgomery, made by The Empowerment
Project.
8. Ramsey Clark, Former
Attorney General, talking on U.S. militarism. Very powerful!
Filmed by Ralph
Cole of JusticeVision.
9. Amy Goodman, Host
of Democracy
Now, FM Radio NY, talking on two genocides committed by
the Indonesian military. First against it's own people & then
against the people of East Timor, both aided by the CIA. Filmed
by Ralph Cole of JusticeVision.
10.
S.
Brian Willson, Vietnam Veteran who lost his legs when
he was run over by a naval train carrying weapons headed to
kill innocent civilians in Central America. Brian wages Unconditional
Peace. Brian is introduced by Kris Kirstofferson.
Get active
Check the posters
on this site. Keep your eye on pax.protest.net to find out
about other organized events. The protest.net main site has an activist handbook
that's pretty good.
Sign petitions, write letters
Here's an
International Petition with over 100,000 signatures as
of 9/18. U.S. mirror is here
Moveon.org has a petition
(Moveon is a moderate-liberal group that formed a PAC during
the impeachment hearings. They have a lot of clout with Dems.
They have very encouraging message boards here)
Some websites of print magaines
In These
Times
http://www.inthesetimes.com/
The
Progressive
http://www.theprogressive.org
The Nation
http://www.thenation.org
Mother
Jones
http://www.motherjones.com
especially their "Beyond the Blasts" section
|
 |
|
Using the Internet to Work for Justice:
A quick guide to online resources
that provide a counterpoint to the drumbeat for war
compiled by Sonali Kolhatkar,
Jim Ingals
and an anonymous volunteer
|
|
Learn about the situation in Central
Asia
Many of us (myself included) have only a very rough
understanding of the regional politics at play here.
If you understand some of the context around the recent
catastrophic events, you'll understand more deeply why
a full-scale military response is not just immoral,
but strategically inappropriate (that is, assuming
the goal is to combat terrorism):
Ahmed Rashid provides a more dispassionate and richly
factual account here
http://www.public-i.org/excerpts_01_091301.htm
He has also written a book: Taliban: Militant Islam,
Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, available
from Yale U. Press or your
local independent bookstore. An interview with him
from the time the book was published came out in Atlantic
Monthly and is archived here
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/interviews/ba2000-08-09.htm
There's a piece by Tamim Ansary on Salon
that gives some perspective and provides a brief introduction
to some of the basic facts
here
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/09/14/afghanistan/index.html
Tamim Ansary's piece, while it reads
well and gives the insight of an Afghan American, is
flawed in that he wrongly attributes the destruction
of Kabul to the Soviets. True the Soviets destroyed
some infrastructure in Afghanistan but they built a
lot and the real damage they did was to the people -
in having thousands of people assasinated, esp intellectuals,
and forcing reforms on the Afghan people. The destruction
of Kabul was done by US sponsored Mujahadeen and he
doesn't seem to touch upon that at all.
- Sonali
Kolhatkar
There's a good article in The Nation by Robert
Fisk here
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20011001&s=fisk
Fisk has been covering the region for decades. Look for
more of his stuff (esp. in The
Independent, where he's a reporter.)
There's another piece about bin Laden, by Mary Anne Weaver
for The New Yorker. You have
dig around for it; click "From the Archive" on their splash
page.
Afghan sources
RAWA is the only Afghan group which
denounces all fundamentalism, calls for a secular government
of Afghanistan, are pro-women's rights (they're all
women), and are non-violent.
RAWA
www.rawa.org
Learn about the long-term struggles of Afghan women
here
http://rawasongs.fancymarketing.net/
Or here
http://www.asap-net.org/
IFAS
http://www.institute-for-afghan-studies.org/
Afghan
Info http://www.afghan-info.com/
The Northern Alliance, or the United
Front are the group that the US is going to use as a
proxy army to fight their war in Afghanistan. They comprise
a group of mujahadeen parties which the CIA funded in
the 1980s, who have a terrible record of human rights.
Afgha.com
site of the Afghan Resistance
A great article detailing the Northern Alliance's record
of human rights is here
http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/09/25/united_front/print.html
Voice of Afghanistan is an arm
of the US propagandist Voice of America.
Voice
of Afghanistan http://www.voiceofAfghanistan.com/
Human Rights and Relief
organizations on Afghanistan
Human
Rights Watch report on Fundamentalism in Afghanistan
Amnesty
International: Afghanistan: A Human Rights Catastrophe
Relief
Web International's Afghanistan page for the latest
on Afghan news — click on the Afghanistan link.
|
|
Keep on top of events
|
|
Of course, it's important to keep track
of what's going on in the mainstream media. Pay attention
to the NY Times, Washington Post, NPR, network news,
CNN, etc. But there's a wealth of information available
from alternative sites. Of course, you can always check
out shows like NPR's
On
the Media
http://www.wnyc.org/new/talk/onthemedia/otmindex.html
or FAIR.org's Counterspin
http://www.fair.org/counterspin/
for insightful commentary on the mainstream
media's coverage.
Get intelligent about "intelligence"
One thing anyone who wants to be active
for peace will want to do is check out sites that specialize
in military intelligence -- these sites provide some
insightful (if frequently cold-blooded) analysis, and
give a glimpse of what the military/intelligence community
is thinking
Stratfor
http://www.stratfor.com
Jane's
http://www.janes.com
RAND
http://www.rand.org
Progressive internet
radio
(best if you have high-speed access;
some
also provide substantial text)
KPFK
broadcasts in LA at 90.7 and in Santa Barbara at 98.7.
Despite being part of the troubled Pacifica Network
(many of the links below elucidate problems with Pacifica)
they still provide reasonable alternative coverage.
Other Pacifica affiliates are WBAI (99.1) in NYC, KPFT
(90.1) in Houston and WPFW (89.3) in D.C. A full list
is here http://www.pacifica.org/about/afsubs.html
One set of Pacifica stations has fervently
resisted the corporate coup: KPFA
(94.1) in Berkeley, and KFCF
(88.1) Fresno. You can also hear them online here http://www.kpfa.org/forms/0_aud.htm
Some other internet radio sources are
comprised mainly of "refugees" from Pacifica stations.
Try these:
WBIX
http://www.wbix.org
FSRN
(Free Speech Radio Network) http://www.fsrn.org
You can find shows not available on
most of the Pacifica network (including Democracy Now!)
by checking out:
Webactive
http://www.webactive.com
and
Flashpoints.net
http://www.flashpoints.net
Finally, a really great show "Expert
Witness Radio," is in the midst of finding a new web
space. Keep checking in here
http://www.markmarshall.com/what%27sthetruth.html
Text-based reports/commentary
FPIF
http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org
Common
Dreams http://www.commondreams.org
Indymedia
http://www.indymedia.org
(also check for local groups, e.g.,
la.indymedia.org)
Z
magazine http://www.zmag.org
Alternet
Alternet.org http://www.alternet.org
Michael
Moore http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Oneworld
http://www.oneworld.net
From the UN: IRIN
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/asia/asiafp.phtml
|
|
