Last night we watched “Dirty Wars,” investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill’s documentary film exposing the United States’ covert, lethal, extra-governmental operations around the globe. It’s an important film. Depending on your level of knowledge of the US, it may be eye-opening, or it may be shocking. If you have not yet
Continue readingTag: war and peace
wmtc: our tax dollars at work: a history of civilian casualties in afghanistan, 2001-2012
This is from the US, but it concerns every Canadian along with every USian. From The Nation, emphasis mine. The Nation’s interactive database of civilian casualties in Afghanistan is an attempt to compile as complete a list as possible of all known civilian deaths that have occurred in the country
Continue readingwmtc: how canada supports it troops: by telling them to shut up
Thanks for your service, soldier. Now shut up, and that’s an order. Canada’s wounded soldiers are being required to sign a form agreeing not to criticize their superiors on social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter, the Ottawa Citizen reported Friday. The form reportedly also asks injured soldiers not
Continue readingwmtc: war resister rodney watson: four years in sanctuary
Today marks four years since Iraq War resister Rodney Watson requested sanctuary from the First United Church in Vancouver. Watson has been in sanctuary ever since. We can honour Watson’s sacrifice and his commitment to peace by renewing our demand that the Canadian government allow Watson and all war resisters
Continue readingwmtc: dear war criminals: don’t lecture us about morals as you prepare to bomb civilians
Let me be clear. The indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity. – Secretary of State John Kerry The slaughter of innocent civilians is a moral obscenity? I’m betting the people of Iraq and Afghanistan* agree. Or
Continue readingwmtc: the standard double-standard: prison for war resisters, immunity for war criminals
Abby Zimet reports on Common Dreams: Days before Bradley – now Chelsea – Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for helping expose U.S. war crimes in Iraq, the Obama Department of Justice filed a petition in federal court arguing that the perpetrators of those crimes – Bush, Cheney,
Continue readingwmtc: help fund "let them stay", the book
Some of you may remember when wmtc was obsessed with the War Resisters Support Campaign, a fact that was noticed in some very interesting places. (Hi CIC! Are you still reading?) I joined the Campaign in 2007, then in 2009, I began school for my Master of Information degree. I managed
Continue readingwmtc: how you can support chelsea manning
Here are two important things you can do to help support Chelsea Manning. 1. Do whatever you can to work for her pardon. You can sign the petition to President Obama here. You have to create an account, but that only takes a few moments, and the form accepts Canadian
Continue readingwmtc: her name is chelsea and she is a hero – and a scapegoat
A while back, I saw a blog post angrily asking why everyone referred to Bradley Manning as a man when it is “known” that he is trans. The answer is simple: out of respect. That’s how Manning was identifying. Period. Anything else was rumour. Now that Manning’s court martial (fake
Continue readingwmtc: bradley manning in his own words
In case you haven’t seen it, this link at Democracy Now! has the transcript of Bradley Manning’s statement, read by his lawyer David Coombs, after Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison. The decisions that I made in 2010 were made out of a concern for my country and the
Continue readingwmtc: free bradley manning, and all war resisters
My thoughts on the Bradley Manning verdict at Socialist.ca: here.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Iraqi Single Mom And Tech Lawyer Suing George W. Bush for War Crimes
An Iraqi single mom and a tech lawyer are suing ex-president George W. Bush for war crimes, believe they can prove the Iraq War was a “crime of aggression” under U.S. law. The post Iraqi Single Mom And Tech Lawyer Suing George W. Bush for War Crimes appeared first on
Continue readingwmtc: bradley manning’s apology: the triumph of torture
Earlier this week, Bradley Manning’s defense ended its case in Manning’s sentencing hearing. Manning made a statement to the military court: an apology. Reading it, I thought of 1984, when Winston faces the terror of being eaten alive by rats, and he tells his tormentors what they want to hear.
Continue readingwmtc: sports without war: canada out of aghanistan, and military out of our sports
I have written a bit about the use of professional sports as a vehicle for war propaganda and militarism, such as when the Harper Government used the Olympic torch relay to promote its war in Afghanistan. My partner Allan has covered this ground more consistently, since he writes a sports blog.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Manning case shows that US government’s priorities are ‘upside down’
The Bradley Manning verdict is about sending the message that “the US government will come after you”, says Amnesty International’s Senior Director of International Law and Policy Widney Brown. The post Manning case shows that US government’s priorities are ‘upside down’ appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Julian Assange: Bradley Manning is the quintessential whistleblower
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says Bradley Manning “is the quintessential whistleblower” after a US military court found him not guilty of “aiding the enemy”, guilty of 19 lesser charges. The post Julian Assange: Bradley Manning is the quintessential whistleblower appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Bradley Manning found not guilty of aiding the enemy, guilty of lesser charges
Military judge Colonel Denise Lind found whistleblower Bradley Manning not guilty of the serious charge of “aiding the enemy”, and guilty of lesser charges which still carry the possibility of over 100 years behind bars. The post Bradley Manning found not guilty of aiding the enemy, guilty of lesser charges
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: European Parliamentarians Ask President Obama To Free Bradley Manning
In this open letter to President Barack Obama and US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, European parliamentarians demand the immediate release of Bradley Manning. The post European Parliamentarians Ask President Obama To Free Bradley Manning appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingwmtc: brandon toy: i have come to believe that the true insanity is doing nothing
Brandon Toy, writing in Common Dreams. I hereby resign in protest effective immediately. I have served the post-911 Military Industrial complex for 10 years, first as a soldier in Baghdad, and now as a defense contractor. At the time of my enlistment, I believed in the cause. I was ignorant,
Continue readingwmtc: rtod
Revolutionary thought of the day: This war is murder, this conquest is robbery… If this war be called patriotism then blessed be treason. Clarence Darrow, 1898, on the Spanish-American war
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