With Chelsea Manning's released from prison May 17, 2017, we would do well to remember that Manning is responsible for greater governmental transparency brought about by the revelations of abuses of power ...

• Yemeni president lied to his own people, claiming his military carried out air strikes on militants actually done by U.S. All part of giving U.S. full rein in country against terrorists.
  
• Details on Vatican hiding big sex abuse cases in Ireland.
  
• U.S. tried to get Spain to curb its probes of Gitmo torture and rendition.
  
• Egyptian torturers trained by FBI—although allegedly to teach the human rights issues.
  
• State Department memo: U.S.-backed 2009 coup in Honduras was "illegal and unconstitutional."
  
• Cables on Tunisia appear to help spark revolt in that country. The country's ruling elite described as "The Family," with Mafia-like skimming throughout the economy. The country's First Lady may have made massive profits off a private school.
  
• U.S. knew all about massive corruption in Tunisia back in 2006 but went on supporting the government anyway, making it the pillar of its North Africa policy.
  
• Cables showed the UK promised in 2009 to protect U.S interests in the official Chilcot inquiry on the start of the Iraq war.
  
• Washington was misled by our own diplomats on Russia-Georgia showdown.
  
• Extremely important historical document finally released in full: Ambassador April Glaspie's cable from Iraq in 1990 on meeting with Saddam Hussein before Kuwait invasion.
  
• The UK sidestepped a ban on housing cluster bombs. Officials concealed from Parliament how the U.S. is allowed to bring weapons on to British soil in defiance of treaty.
  
• Afghan vice president left country with $52 million in cash.
  
• Shocking levels of U.S. spying at the United Nations (beyond what was commonly assumed) and intense use of diplomats abroad in intelligence-gathering roles.
  
• Potential environmental disaster kept secret by the U.S. when a large consignment of highly enriched uranium in Libya came close to cracking open and leaking radioactive material into the atmosphere.
  
• American and British diplomats fear Pakistan's nuclear weapons program — with poor security — could lead to fissile material falling into the hands of terrorists or a devastating nuclear exchange with India.
  
• U.S. used threats, spying, and more to try to get its way at [the December, 2009] crucial climate conference in Copenhagen.
  
• Hundreds of cables detail U.S. use of diplomats as "sales" agents, more than previously thought, centering on jet rivalry of Boeing vs. Airbus. Hints of corruption and bribes.
  
• Millions in U.S. military aid for fighting Pakistani insurgents went to other government uses (or stolen) instead.
  
• Israel wanted to bring Gaza to the "brink of collapse."
  
• The U.S. secret services used Turkey as a base to transport terrorism suspects as part of its extraordinary rendition program.
  
• As protests spread in Egypt, cables revealed that strong man Suleiman was at center of government's torture programs, causing severe backlash for Mubarak after he named Suleiman vice president during the revolt coverage and U.S. response.
  

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

Show up for Peace!
Fridays, 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
at the intersection of Iowa Ave. and Clinton St.
on the University of Iowa Pentacrest

Letter: Time to organize and build peace

by David Hempel
Gazette—May 23, 2017 at 12:01 am

We cannot blame just the jihadists (al-Qaida, ISIS, etc.) for the incredible level of violence and terrorism in our world today. Truth be told, the U.S. military is the largest and most devastating terrorist entity on the planet. Our military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria have all but destroyed those countries in toto. Many thousands of innocent civilians have been killed, maimed and terrorized — their families completely distraught and broken.

Between 2002 and 2012 our CIA maintained dozens of "black site" prisons around the world, where torture and prisoner abuse were rampant. The U.S. government is the largest arms dealer the world has ever known, continually selling billions of dollars worth of bombs, guns, fighter planes and helicopters, to the likes of Saudi Arabia and Libya. Though we pride ourselves in reducing our "boots on the ground" in the Middle East, our weaponized drone attacks have killed or injured thousands of civilians. We have a long history of backing coups and supporting corrupt, repressive regimes around the globe. Our government surveils all its citizens and nearly everyone else on the planet, and it actively prosecutes whistleblowers.

We must start owning up to the vast devastation we have rained upon our earth and its inhabitants. And then we must do all in our power to stop this insanity.

Resist, organize, build peace!
—David Hempel
Iowa City

Dates of Interest, 1st Half of 2017

• Jan 10th—50 years ago, 1967. LBJ delivers State of Union, "we will stand firm In Vietnam"
  
• Jan 23—50 years ago,1967. Sen. Wm. Fulbright Publishes "Arrogance of Power"
  
• Feb 13th—50 years ago, 1967. President Johnson announces the U.S. will resume full-scale bombing of North Vietnam (DRV)
  
• April 4th—50 years ago, 1967. MLK delivers "Riverside speech." (He is assassinated on April 4, 1968).
  
• April 6th—100 years ago, 1917. U.S. Declares War On Germany
  
• June 1st—50 years ago, 1967. VVAW (Vietnam Veterans Against the War) is founded
  
• June 8th—50 years ago, 1967. Israeli forces attack USS Liberty, killing 34, wounding 171 crew members
  
• June 15th—100 years ago, 1917. Espionage Act becomes law. (the Obama Administratin has prosecuted more people under this act than all previous administrations combined).
  
• June 25th—100 years ago, 1917. First U.S. troop arrive in France.
  
• July 4th—50 years ago, 1967. 300 US Vietnam veterans hold peace rally at Independence Hall, Philadelphia
  

 
From 50 years ago ...
Martin Luther King's Riverside Church speech
broken into sections for a public reading

Jeff Strottmann, #161's Sergeant-at-Arms, died on Monday, February 6 at the Iowa City VA Hospital. Jeff had been a member of Veterans For Peace since 1992, and was one of the charter members of Chapter #161 when it was founded in 2010.

Jeff was a stalwart advocate for peace and social justice, working especially hard through his membership in VFP and in AFSCME to achieve those goals. Jeff is survived by his brother, James Strottmann, of Franklin, Wisconsin.

Tributes can be posted at Lensing's Tribute Wall

En lieu of flowers donations can be made in Jeff's name by sending a check to Veterans For Peace #161, PO Box 947, Iowa City, IA 52244. VFP #161 is a 501(c)3 organization.

February 17, 2016 Reporters Without Borders (RSF), along with the wife of CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling, delivered a petition for Sterling's pardon to the White House, and the White House acknowledged receipt of the 150,000 signatures.

Sterling, a former C.I.A. operative and the latest victim in the Obama administration’s war on whistleblowers, was convicted in January 2015 of divulging classified information to New York Times journalist James Risen. Read More ...
 

 
Brief recap of Veterans For Peace Chapter #161 activities

 
Welcome to Veterans For Peace

Veterans For Peace is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of peace by using our experiences and lifting our voices. We inform the public of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars, with an obligation to heal the wounds of wars. Our network is comprised of over 140 chapters worldwide whose work includes: educating the public, advocating for a dismantling of the war economy, providing services that assist veterans and victims of war, and most significantly, working to end all wars.

Statement of Purpose

We, having dutifully served our nation, do hereby affirm our greater responsibility to serve the cause of world peace. To this end we will work, with others

• To increase public awareness of the costs of war
  
  
• To restrain our government from intervening, overtly and covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations
  
  
• To end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons
  
  
• To seek justice for veterans and victims of war
  
  
• To abolish war as an instrument of national policy.
  

To achieve these goals, members of Veterans For Peace pledge to use non-violent means and to maintain an organization that is both democratic and open with the understanding that all members are trusted to act in the best interests of the group for the larger purpose of world peace.
 

Rendered for inclusion on website

With Chelsea Manning's released from prison May 17, 2017, we would do well to remember that Manning is responsible for greater governmental transparency brought about by the revelations of abuses of power ...

• Yemeni president lied to his own people, claiming his military carried out air strikes on militants actually done by U.S. All part of giving U.S. full rein in country against terrorists.
  
• Details on Vatican hiding big sex abuse cases in Ireland.
  
• U.S. tried to get Spain to curb its probes of Gitmo torture and rendition.
  
• Egyptian torturers trained by FBI—although allegedly to teach the human rights issues.
  
• State Department memo: U.S.-backed 2009 coup in Honduras was "illegal and unconstitutional."
  
• Cables on Tunisia appear to help spark revolt in that country. The country's ruling elite described as "The Family," with Mafia-like skimming throughout the economy. The country's First Lady may have made massive profits off a private school.
  
• U.S. knew all about massive corruption in Tunisia back in 2006 but went on supporting the government anyway, making it the pillar of its North Africa policy.
  
• Cables showed the UK promised in 2009 to protect U.S interests in the official Chilcot inquiry on the start of the Iraq war.
  
• Washington was misled by our own diplomats on Russia-Georgia showdown.
  
• Extremely important historical document finally released in full: Ambassador April Glaspie's cable from Iraq in 1990 on meeting with Saddam Hussein before Kuwait invasion.
  
• The UK sidestepped a ban on housing cluster bombs. Officials concealed from Parliament how the U.S. is allowed to bring weapons on to British soil in defiance of treaty.
  
• Afghan vice president left country with $52 million in cash.
  
• Shocking levels of U.S. spying at the United Nations (beyond what was commonly assumed) and intense use of diplomats abroad in intelligence-gathering roles.
  
• Potential environmental disaster kept secret by the U.S. when a large consignment of highly enriched uranium in Libya came close to cracking open and leaking radioactive material into the atmosphere.
  
• American and British diplomats fear Pakistan's nuclear weapons program — with poor security — could lead to fissile material falling into the hands of terrorists or a devastating nuclear exchange with India.
  
• U.S. used threats, spying, and more to try to get its way at [the December, 2009] crucial climate conference in Copenhagen.
  
• Hundreds of cables detail U.S. use of diplomats as "sales" agents, more than previously thought, centering on jet rivalry of Boeing vs. Airbus. Hints of corruption and bribes.
  
• Millions in U.S. military aid for fighting Pakistani insurgents went to other government uses (or stolen) instead.
  
• Israel wanted to bring Gaza to the "brink of collapse."
  
• The U.S. secret services used Turkey as a base to transport terrorism suspects as part of its extraordinary rendition program.
  
• As protests spread in Egypt, cables revealed that strong man Suleiman was at center of government's torture programs, causing severe backlash for Mubarak after he named Suleiman vice president during the revolt coverage and U.S. response.
  

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

 
From 50 years ago ...
Martin Luther King's Riverside Church speech
broken into sections for a public reading

Veterans for Peace Chapter 161

P0 Box 947
Iowa City, IA 52244·O947

Please contact:

E-mail John Jadryev <jadryevj[at]gmail.com>
  or call ( 3l9 ) 43O·2Ol9

E-mail Ed Flaherty <flahertyem[at]q.com>
  or call ( 3l9 ) 354·O54O

Webmaster:

Franklin Seibering
P0 Box l3O2
Iowa City, Iowa 52244·l3O2

E-mail: <webmaster[at]justword.net>
page: ( 3l9 ) 34l·llO7