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President
Obama and the
Nobel Peace Prize
Seeing Beyond Ourselves
Taking Advantage of Contradictions
Michael T. McPhearson, October 13, 2009
When I
woke up to the news of President Obama being awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize, I was shocked and a bit disappointed. It seems the President was
taken off guard himself. My reaction is typical of a peace activist who
has been in struggle with the U.S. government under the Bush
Administration and now with the Obama Administration to end many of the
same policies. I have seen numerous statements from the anti-war/peace
activist community condemning the Nobel Peace Prize Committee. I have
seen few that step back and try to understand other perspectives and
more important, discussing ways to use
the fact that the President has won the prize as a tool to organize and
pressure the Administration.
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It is Time for Us to Leave Both Afghanistan and Iraq
Facebook White House Wall Note
Michael T. McPhearson - October 7,
2009
President Obama,
I voted for you with great joy. I had confidence early in the race that
you would win. I am happy that you did because I am excited to see our
country elect a person who looks like me to the White House. I know that
it gives many Black youth a new height of achievement to endeavor to
reach. Just last Sunday I saw a Black toddler with a bib stating “A
Future US President.” No longer is this a wishful or historic dream, but
illustrated possibility by your election.
You have opened the door for
many other people including women. I must admit at 45 yrs old, your
story has inspired me. :-)
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G-20: Some Thoughts on the Non-Violent
Activist's Relationship
to those Who Use Property Damage as a Tactic
October 2009
I
do not think it is a good idea to try to distance ourselves from the
anarchist as such. Most of the people who participate in protests as
anarchists are young people who nearly by definition are rebels. While I
certainly do not think peace organizations and activist should condone
or participate in property damage tactics, I also do not think we should
feed into the idea that these actions are unreasonable and terroristic.
Most of us understand why there is a violent resistance in occupied
lands. We seem to be able to explain that violence easily. Certainly we
can understand and explain youthful exuberance and how youth sometime
choose to express themselves.
These are not
excuses for property damage, but let us put it in perspective and look
at how these incidents are used to divide us and diminish our message.
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The
Peace Movement in This Period
(Now is the Time For Us To Do Our Best Work)
This was originally written to the
UFPJ Steering Committee. It has been slightly changed to address the
wider peace and anti-war movements.
Michael T. McPhearson - Veterans For Peace Executive Director and
Co-Chair of UFPJ
8/04/2009
In a conversation I had with Bob Wing, founding
co-chair of UFPJ, he pointed out to me that there is no longer a center
of power to the left of President Obama. At least, that is the way I
heard his comments. I think he is right, and that it helps explain the
current political challenge facing the peace/anti-war movements in
mobilizing allies in the wider social and economic justice struggles to
resist the current wars and occupations.
The economy has
pushed the average person into discomfort about their economic position,
at best. Millions have lost their jobs, are underemployed or are
awaiting the possibility of being evicted from their foreclosed homes.
People are looking to government/the new Administration to solve these
problems. Additionally, after eight years of struggle merely to defend
the status quo, many organizations and people in economic and social
justice struggles, are now engaging with Congress and the
Administration, in order to move forward their individual issues,
pushing the war
to a second or third tier concern on their agendas. Make no mistake, the
wars/occupations are still of great distress to people, but home comes
first.
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February 23, 2009
To The Pentagon and Wall Street; We
Must March
Michael
T. McPhearson
Veterans For Peace, Executive Director
United For Peace and Justice, Co-Chair
The next 5 weeks are very important to the anti-war and peace
movements. March 19th, the 6th Commemoration of
the U.S. invasion of Iraq is less than four weeks away. On March 21st,
two days later comes the March on the Pentagon mobilization and then
April 4th, two weeks later is the Beyond War; A New Economy
is Possible mobilization on Wall Street in New York City. This
is a lot of action in a short period of time. It is as it should be.
There is much to protest and much to change.
Sunday November 2, 2008
To All the Activist of the
Anti-War and Peace and Justice Movements:
Soon our nation will have a new President. The
last page of the Bush era will be turned and a new era will begin.
Having no idea who will be elected there are a few thoughts I would
like to share with you.
I would like
to thank you for all you have done during these dark and dangerous
times in our nation’s history. We have faced a tremendous assault on
our civil liberties, huge amounts of propaganda to push us towards
military solutions, and
heavy public pressure to be silent and follow the crowd.
2,000
-- WHO WILL BE THE LAST TO DIE IN THIS ILLEGAL,
IMMORAL WAR?
By Stan Goff
I knew the number would come up, because we've been
counting these numbers as part of the Bring Them Home Now! campaign
since we launched it when the number was around 200. It doesn't
shock me, but I find myself blindsided by my own reaction to it. The
foreknowledge is nothing more nor less than knowing that human
beings are being fed into this senseless killing with such
regularity now that it doesn't even show up in the news until we hit
these sick, decimalized milestones.
And I am feeling such rage right now that I can hardly hold back the
tears.
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From
Crawford To DC
By Michael T. McPhearson, Veterans
For Peace
I joined the tour Tuesday. Everyone is great and has such moving
stories. I love being with courageous people standing up for what they
believe. However, sometimes it is hard to listen to the stories.
Our first event in Gainesville, FL was a press conference hosted by the
Civic Media Center. Our audience welcomed us with open arms and
enthusiasm ready to hear what we had to say. We were introduced by a
young man who runs the center. I thought he was probably a college
student. I later found out that he is a local high school student!
Brooke Beasley spoke first. She talked about growing up in a military
family and loving her country. She made it clear that we as citizens
have a responsibility to stand up when we see our government taking the
wrong path. We must look
out for our soldiers. We need to bring them home now. |
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Operation
(Un)Truth: A Trojan Jackass for the Anti-War Movement
By
Stan Goff
Paul Rieckhoff, a former first-looey in the Reserves who went to Iraq,
has now found his political niche as a plant for the Democratic Party,
using his outfit's non-profit status to give him plausible deniability.
The NGO in question is Operation Truth, which has somehow managed to
pass itself off as an
antiwar group every since its inception while explicitly not taking a
position against the war.
Some Ideas on Building Our Movement
Michael T. McPhearson
First, because I believe a discussion of why
the United States attacked Iraq is central to our understanding of how to
move forward, I will share my thoughts on why the U.S. invaded Iraq. Second,
I will give a brief outline of my ideas on how to move forward the cause of
peace and justice.
There is no single reason why the U.S.
invaded Iraq. We invaded Iraq because a
number of interests in the U.S.
exploited the fear caused by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
I wrote this nearly six months
ago and we have more of the same, death. Our soldiers are dying. They are
killing Iraqi civilians. More Iraqis are becoming insurgents who kill more
soldiers and other civilians. How many more must die before the nation
understands?
It Is Surely
Time For Us To Leave
Michael T. McPhearson
May 28, 2004
March 2003, days before our invasion of Iraq I woke up from a disturbing
dream where it appeared that I was watching a newscast of Palestinians
clashing with Israeli Defense Forces that some how transformed to pictures
of Iraqis clashing with U.S. forces.
Today it is our reality.
Read More
My
American
Privilege
Michael T. McPhearson
- February 2004
From December 1 – 7,
2003 I traveled with a peace delegation to Iraq. We met with Iraqis in and
around Baghdad to bring a message of peace and to listen to their stories
and feelings about the occupation. The delegation members included parents
of children serving in Iraq, veterans of the Vietnam War and myself a
veteran of the first Persian Gulf War. The trip was both exhilarating and
sad as we listened to Iraqis to tell us about the terror of Saddam’s rule
and the current nightmare of the
occupation.
Read More
An Answer
(No Justice No peace)
Michael T. McPhearson Aug 2002
The road to peace is not paved with good deeds and
intentions. Nor is it to be traveled by the weak of stomach and
mind. One must make tough choices and rely on faith to follow the
road to peace. Faith in the Divine or humanity, either is
sufficient. But if one’s faith lies in a tribal, ethnic, national or
religious identity and not in humanity, peace is impossible.
The lens used to see the road to peace is justice.
Simply stated, no justice no peace. The Israelis and Palestinians
are people in search of justice but blinded by their ideas of
identity. Ethnic and national interests are more important than
their shared humanity. The conflict
seems beyond answers.
Read More |
Oct/ Nov /Dec
2009

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