KC Iraq Task Force Update - Help End the War & Create a Better World!

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Ira Harritt

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May 22, 2008, 7:35:29 PM5/22/08
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Dear KC Iraq Task Force Supporter,

 

In a speech given in 2003, Arundhati Roy reminded us,

“The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling -- their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability.

Remember this: We be many and they be few.

They need us more than we need them.

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.

On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”

 

That world is coming. Each time we reject the ideas, products and lies of war and empire; reject profits over people, we bring that world closer.

 

At our last KC Iraq Task Force meeting we reviewed our work and proposed some new actions. But we need you to renew your involvement to bring a new, better, more just world closer to being.

 

The recent rejection by the House of the Iraq funding bill was a good sign. But on May 22, the Senate passed its version of the supplemental war funding bill, providing $165 billion more for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by a vote of 70 to 26. (See below for more information about what you can do to challenge the passage of the war funding bill.) So we are far from seeing troops returning home and Iraq’s future being decided by the Iraqi people.

 

Text Box: Please join us in supporting one or more of the KC Iraq Task Force actions listed below. You can help bring an end to the Iraq war and direct U.S. policy toward real peacemaking. ÿ Sign up to be on call to leaflet and / or hold Cost of War banners at community events – We will contact you when we plan an action. Signing up will make it easier to turn out enough volunteers to hold a successful action. ÿ Sign up to be on call to participate in performances of the “Your Tax Dollars for Sale Street Theater.” – Roles do not require great acting skills – enthusiasm helps We will contact you when we plan an action. Signing up will make it easier to turn out enough volunteers to hold a successful action. ÿ Volunteer to help research war profiteers in the KC metro. We want to identify a corporation profiting from the war and hold demonstrations to draw the public’s attention to the forces which fuel the war machine. –Would require internet searching. ÿ Volunteer to be a listener in a project to meet with civic, business and other community leaders to discuss with them how the war and war spending impacts their areas of interest. We hope that we can motivate new community leaders to recognize the disastrous impact of the war on our community and to speak out. (See articles below for information about war and our economy.) Contact us at iharritt@afsc.org or call 816 931-5256.

 

Thank you for your stand for peace. Please work with us to bring make our peaceful just future a reality.

 

Peace to you this Memorial Day,

Ira Harritt

KC Iraq Task Force Co-chair

KC AFSC Program Coordinator

816 931-5256

ihar...@afsc.org

 

Note: Though complete removal of US troops and bases, Iraqi political reconciliation and regional negotiations are necessary for Iraq’s future we also must help heal the damage this war has wrought. (See “Healing the Wounds of War: Alternatives to war funding that can lead to a lasting peace in Iraq.”)

 

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Text Box: War Funding- What’s next: Apparently the Senate doesn't think there are enough fallen soldiers to honor this Memorial Day, so they have passed a funding bill to extend the Iraq war and occupation past Memorial Day 2009. And were they even thinking of the potentially thousands of Iraqis who will die? To add to the moral repugnance of the Senate's actions, they have tied important programs including GI and unemployment benefits to the Iraq funding bill. Vets can get college tuition, but they'll need to spend another year in Iraq first. See below for details on the Senate bill and to find out how your senators voted. Are you as outraged as we are? But we can't give up the fight just yet. The Senate bill will go back to the House of Representatives for a vote in the beginning of June. Before they vote though, members of Congress will be coming home for their week-long Memorial Day recess. That means they will be at parades, picnics, campaign events and in their offices. They must hear from you -- loud or silent, rude or polite, funny or solemn, in print, on the phone or in person. There are many ways to convey one message: Stop funding the war, bring all our troops home now! Use as many of them as you can! Please check the UFPJ calendar to see if there are any Memorial Day Peace events near you (and make sure your event is listed if you are organizing one). Click here to find out who your representative is and the locations and phone numbers of their local offices. Let us know how you contacted your representative -- phone, email, fax, in-person, etc. -- who you reached, what you said, and what the response was. Additional Resources from UFPJ and UFPJ member groups: • CodePink Memorial Day Action Guide • "Why We're Against the War," from Iraq Veterans Against the War • Legislative information from UFPJ • Local cost of war info from the National Priorities Project • Talking points for grassroots lobbyists from Peace Action • Open letter to Congress from Military Families Speak Out • "Healing the Wounds of War" from AFSC Background Details The Senate voted today, May 22, on three separate amendments: The first vote produced a surprise outcome. It was an amendment approving billions in funding for a broad array of domestic programs, including increases in GI education funding, extension of unemployment benefits, levee construction in New Orleans, and a plethora of other good works. The amendment passed by a vote of 75-22. The second vote was on Iraq war policies, including a withdrawal timeline, troop readiness requirements, no permanent bases and no toture. This amendment failed on a vote of 34-63. The final vote was on $165.4 billion to fund the wars/occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan through next summer. This amendment passed on a vote of 70-26. The Senate version of the bill (including the war funding and the domestic funding) will go back to the House for a vote after the Memorial Day recess. Last week, the House voted on three amendments similar to the amendments in the Senate. It defeated the war funding amendment and passed only the war policies and domestic programs. How did your representative vote? • On the Iraq war policies amendment • On the domestic programs amendment • On the $166 billion Iraq war funding amendment Yours, for peace and justice, UFPJ Legislative Working Group

 

Some believe that passage of supplemental war funding is inevitable. Go to “More Money for War in Iraq: Work for Diplomacy, No War with Iran” for more information.  http://fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=3299&issue_id=35

 

Links for more info: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/  or http://www.fcnl.org/index.htm

 

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Iranian-American Voices for Peace

Interesting clip featuring 31 Iranian-Americans for peace:

 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=81wviXYTiM0

 

 

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Upcoming Peace and Justice Activities

Click on link or scroll down for more information about the peace and justice activity

 

Peace and Justice Teach-ins will be on a break. For up to date information go to: http://peaceandjusticecoffeehouse.blogspot.com/   

 

 

Jun 6, Friday, 3:45– 4:45pm Home-Grown Nuclear Proliferation Protest at Honeywell Plant, 93rd and Troost Ave., Kansas City, MO. In July 2005 the president of the Honeywell Corp. subsidiary that operates the Kansas City plant said the plant was experiencing its heaviest workload in 20 years and was projecting that the pace would continue until 2015. We are left with a haunting question: "Why is the plant back to its old workload of the Cold War years?" It is apparent that another nuclear weapons arms race is underway in our own community. Join us on the first Friday of every month from  For more information, contact Donna Constantineau at (913) 281-5499 or ccarney_1@juno.com.!

 

 

June 23rd, Monday, 6:30pm, KC Iraq Task Force Planning Meeting. We will work on public education and advocacy actions: utilizing the Cost of War, What is the Best Way to Support the Troops and other exhibits, present the new “Auction-Today: Your Tax Dollars for Sale” Street Theater, organize dialogue sessions on war and the economy and other activities to promote peace and end the Iraq war. Come to the AFSC office, 4405 Gillham Rd., KCMO for information call 816 931-5256.

 

 

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EVERY Sunday: Iraq Peace Vigil, 4pm, JC Nichols Fountain, 47th & Main, Streets, Kansas City, MO http://www.kciraqtaskforce.org/  

EVERY Tuesday, JOIN THIS Peace Demonstration Every Tuesday between 5PM - 6 PM in the median strip on the south corner of the   intersection at 63rd & Ward Parkway, Kansas City, Mo. For more information email '63rd Street Patriots' at  schwar...@sbcglobal.net

 

Every Wednesday, 5:00pm, Iraq Anti-War Protest, College and Quivira, Overland Park, KS (NW corner). Send a message to Sen. Pat Robert that it’s time to end the war! 

 

1st Wednesday of each month, Prayers for World Peace and Group Blessings the at 2540 Holmes St, just one block south of the UMKC dental school/Children's Mercy, KCMO 64108. Interested persons can contact Reverend Barbara for more details at :913-645-3380

 

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Join the

Chalk Project

Marking the 4,000 death of American Troops in Iraq

with Respect and Messages of Peace

 

Send photos of chalk outlines to dmell...@afsc.org

 

Click Here to see some of the Chalk Project outlines

 

Help rouse the public’s conscience over the growing deaths in the Iraq occupation and call for a change from war making to making peace in the world –through diplomacy, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, supporting human rights…

 

Join with others in creating an organic memorial to those who have died in the Iraq occupation by creating body chalk outlines on streets, sidewalks or other locations (it works best working with a partner) and then to chalk the message “Too Many Have Died In Iraq” – and add your own message of peace—for example: Education Not War; Healthcare Not Bombing; Butter Not Bullets; Renewable Energy Not Oil warring, Diplomacy Not Ultimatums, etc.(We ask that you keep it positive. Not curse words or name calling.)

Our goal is for area activists to make 4,000 body outlines spread throughout the city.

 

We offer this caution-it is possible that creating these outlines may be considered breaking anti-graffiti laws in some places. To help you avoid this make sure you use only chalk and be willing to wash the chalk away if a business or homeowner complains.

 

We would also like to document the outlines created, messages left, locations and times seen. When you see a Chalk Project body outline we ask that you e-mail your “sighting” to dmell...@afsc.org.

Please include  in your email the location e.g.  “SW corner of 48th Street and Oak, KCMO),  the messages in the outline, and times you saw it. Please also attach a digital photos in jpeg or pict format if you are able to take one. Sightings will be posted on a website to be determined. For info call 816 931-5256.

 

Click Here to see some of the Chalk Project outlines

 

Email us sightings of Chalk Project outlines at dmill...@afsc.org !

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News and Action Alerts

 

ECONOMIC COMMENTARY:

The US Economy and the Costs of War

by Dave Lindorff

Is the Iraq War to blame for America’s long-term economic decline and for the current economic crisis?

 

MON, 04/21/2008—Martin Neil Baily, a chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton, and now director of the business initiative at the Brookings Institution, in an opinion piece that ran Sunday in the New York Times, says no. Claiming to be opposed to the Iraq War, he nonetheless suggests that the nearly $500 billion spent on Iraq to date—all of it borrowed money—cannot be blamed for the credit crisis, or for high oil prices.

But Baily is looking at things way too narrowly.

First of all, as Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel economist and chief economist at the World Bank, has noted, the real cost of the Iraq War is probably now closer to $3 trillion, in terms of future costs of veterans benefits, replacement of equipment, and payment on the debt that has been piling up because of the government’s unwillingness to make the public pay for the war in real time. That whopping bill is in the minds of the international investors who have been deserting the dollar in droves, causing it to approach Third World status as a currency.

But there are other links too, between the war and US economic crisis and decline.

One is the misdirection of much of the nation’s remaining industrial strength into war production.  More > http://www.baltimorechronicle.com/2008/042208Lindorff.shtml

 

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THE RECKONING

The Iraq War Will Cost Us $3 Trillion, and Much More

By Linda J. Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz

Sunday, March 9, 2008; Page B01

There is no such thing as a free lunch, and there is no such thing as a free war. The Iraq adventure has seriously weakened the U.S. economy, whose woes now go far beyond loose mortgage lending. You can't spend $3 trillion -- yes, $3 trillion -- on a failed war abroad and not feel the pain at home.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702846.html

 

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Seven Questions: Joe Stiglitz on How the Iraq War Is Wrecking the Economy

Posted April 2008

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz talks to FP about Wall Street bailouts, America’s mountain of debt, and what U.S. taxpayers will end up paying for Iraq.

 

Foreign Policy: What does $3 trillion mean for the average U.S. taxpayer?

 

Joseph Stiglitz: If you divide it by the [number of] U.S. households, it comes out to around $25,000 [per household]. It’s a lot of money. But we actually talk about a range of total costs, between $3 trillion and $5 trillion.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4246

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$89 million more going to Lake City for ammo, improvements

The U.S. Army today said it had awarded an additional $89 Million in contracts to the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence.

Operated by Minnesota-based Alliant Techsystems, Lake City is the largest supplier of small-caliber ammunition to the nation’s military forces, including 5.56mm, 7.62mm, .50-caliber and 20mm cartridges.

Alliant in the 2008 fiscal year delivered 1.4 billion rounds and expects to deliver roughly the same amount this year.

http://www.kansascity.com/382/story/629496.html

 

 

 

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