Any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires – a wiretap requires a court order.-George W. Bush, April 20, 2004, Buffalo, New York. In an assertion of executive power that rivals the excesses of the McCarthy era of the late 1940’s and 1950’s, and the dreaded COINTELPRO (counter-intelligence program) of… Read more »
After the grotesque torture photographs emerged from Abu Ghraib prison in April 2004, Bush said, “I shared a deep disgust that those prisoners were treated they way they were treated.” He vowed the incidents would be investigated and the perpetrators “will be taken care of.” Bush seemed shocked to learn of torture committed by US… Read more »
A young man in the Delayed Entry Program changed his mind about enlisting. The recruiter said to him that September 11 changed everything – “If you don’t report, that’s treason and you will be shot.” I helped him to obtain a discharge.— Bill Galvin, Counseling Coordinator, Center on Conscience and War Like the recruiter trying… Read more »
April 30th marked 30 years since the end of the Vietnam War. Yet, recently elected California Assemblyman Van Tran is pushing the California State Assembly to adopt the old flag of the Republic of Vietnam as the official and only flag of the Vietnamese-American community in the state, to be flown at state-sponsored Vietnamese-American events…. Read more »
U.S. soldiers who fought in Vietnam were trained to think of the North Vietnamese as “gooks.” The objectification of the non-white enemy made it more palatable to kill and abuse them. American troops and mercenaries in Iraq likewise objectified their Iraqi prisoners when they sexually abused and sadistically humiliated them in the Abu Ghraib prison… Read more »
George W. Bush’s recent announcement that the United States is committed to stay in the Balkans comes as no surprise. Despite his rhetoric about helping the people there, it’s really about the transportation of massive oil resources from the Caspian Sea through the Balkans, and maintaining U.S. hegemony in the region. Although NATO ostensibly bombed… Read more »
The deportation of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was a direct result of blackmail by the United States. Desperate to rebuild its economy, the Serbian government capitulated to U.S. threats: deliver Milosevic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, or the U.S. would see… Read more »
The April Third Movement was a life-changing experience for hundreds of Stanford students in the 1960s and 1970s. Sent to Stanford by our parents who anticipated we would receive a top-notch education, we found ourselves transforming the very world we were studying. As we read about the War in Southeast Asia, we came to understand… Read more »