Atlanta Activists In Action!

I pulled this story from an email sent to me by Atlanta Progressive News, which is a constant source of news that can't be found on major news networks.

(APN) Peace Activists Turn Backs on Gen. Petraeus at GA Tech

By Gloria Tatum, Special to The Atlanta Progressive News (January 24, 2010)

(APN) ATLANTA -- On January 19, 2010, thirteen Atlanta activists from Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition (GPJC), and Atlanta Grandmothers for Peace stood in silence and turned their backs on US General David Petraeus before being removed from the 1,100-person Ferst Theater on the Georgia Tech campus.

The activists wore t-shirts with messages like War is Not the Answer, Money for Jobs Not War, No to Endless War and Occupation, Veterans for Peace, and End the War - Yes We Can!

The activists included Randy Aronov, Bernice Bass; Doris Benit; Mike Burke; Pamela Chubbuck; David Epstein; Reid Jenkins; Ann Mauney; Betsy Miklethun; Dot Shaw; George Sossenko; and the present writer--Gloria Tatum.

Mauney, of GPJC, contradicted Petraeus's public relations message that the US is winning in the occupations of Iraq or Afghanistan.

"There is no military solution to the Afghanistan conflict, and... Gen. Petraeus, as a chief strategist for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and occupations, carries responsibilities for bankrupt US war policies," Mauney said during the protest.

"General Petraeus, the man from CENTCOM at MacDill AFB in St. Petersburg, definitely had the glint of a fifth star in his eyes and he reinforced that by telling a giant whopper about how the invasion of Afghanistan was launched after 9/11 because that's where the terrorists were from," Burke, a veteran of the US Invasion of Vietnam, wrote in an email obtained by Atlanta Progressive News.

In fact, the US government's own investigation into 9/11 contradicts Petraeus's assertion by concluding that the majority of terrorists who attacked the US were from Saudi Arabia, not Afghanistan.

Petraeus then began his question and answer session with the rows of clean-cut Tech students and academics who were far more interested in the economics of occupation than a pull-out date.

Outside the Ferst Center, other opponents of endless war and occupation held a press conference and anti-war rally.

"Ever since the escalation in Afghanistan was announced, there has been a sharp upsurge in terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the US," Dianne Mathiowetz, International Action Center Atlanta, said in a statement.

"Isn't it obvious that these endless wars just create endless terrorism?" Mathiowetz asked. "Why is General Petraeus only taking questions from Tech students? Is he afraid of questions from spouses and other loved ones of those who are dying in these endless wars, or from taxpayers who are paying for the war?"

Bob Goodman of the GPJC--as well as an APN contributor--composed and passed out 500 flyers to people waiting in line at the Ferst Center, with the questions advocates would have asked General Petraeus if given the opportunity.

Let's Not Wait

Quotable

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, It is the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead

Politics Explained

FEUDALISM: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

PURE SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all of the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need.

BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and put them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs as the regulations say you need.

FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them and sells you the milk.

PURE COMMUNISM: You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.

RUSSIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk.

CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The government takes both of them and shoots you.

DICTATORSHIP: You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

PURE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

PURE ANARCHY: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

LIBERTARIAN/ANARCHO-CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

SURREALISM: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

A Flower from the Ghetto

Stand Up!