Veterans for Peace calls on the Minnesota National Guard to Stand Down

Excellent statement from Veterans for Peace:

Veterans Call on the Minnesota National Guard to Stand Down

Veterans For Peace calls for the immediate withdrawal of the Minnesota National Guard. We are appalled to see military weapons, vehicles and equipment once again deployed in U.S. cities to control community members who are reacting to a long history of state-sanctioned violence. When an already embattled community is subjected to militarized intimidation, by design, their environment becomes a war zone. We call on all those who are serving with the National Guard to refuse to serve violent and racist interests.

Veterans For Peace denounces the ongoing instances of police violence against Black bodies and people of color, this time resulting in the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We also stand in opposition to the State of Minnesota’s and the Minneapolis police force’s militarized response to the right to protest.

Learning nothing from the now seemingly endless examples of ineffective attempts to silence protests with militarized violence—from Ferguson to Baltimore to New Orleans to Standing Rock—political figures continue to call on more military to quell the powerful resistance seen from the people in Minneapolis who demand justice. We continue to see the escalation of threats of violence from those in power--from Trump’s tweets threatening to shoot protestors to the governor’s decision to send in the national guard.

As Veterans For Peace, we know that increased militarization in our communities will never bring peace. We know that peace is only achieved with a strong commitment to justice. As veterans who served in various wars, we know there is a connection between increasing racist violence in the United States and the massive indiscriminate killing of hundreds of thousands of people in other lands. Growing racism against black, brown and Muslim people in the United States is a reflection of the racism that justifies killing non-white people abroad. The U.S. military deliberately uses racism to motivate young men and women to kill.

As veterans, we know what it’s like to be called to a “duty” that goes against our conscience. We urge all current National Guard members to lay down their weapons and refuse to fight against their neighbors and fellow community members. We urge you all to be fully informed as you make profound choices with possibly serious consequences. We urge any troops facing possible deployment to Minneapolis or already there to contact the National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force at (619) 463-2369 and/or help@militarylawhelp.com for referral to a civilian attorney to discuss your options.

Our nation’s consistent option for militarization and the use of deadly force when it is not needed—at home and abroad—is exactly why we find ourselves in this situation. It makes no sense to think more violence and trauma heaped upon the Minneapolis community will quell the unrest. The Governor has moved beyond using a militarized police force to using the military. He is relying on intimidation and fear to end this. The only thing that will quiet this storm is justice.

Former US Air Force drone operator speaks out about atrocities of the US military

Drone operators in the US Air Force have suffered Post Traumatic Stress Injuries from their roles in remote killing.  War is not a game.  It dehumanizes on all sides.  A former drone operator testifies in an article in The Independent, by Craig Graziosi, February 8, 2020:

Brandon Bryant was enlisted in the US Air Force for six years. During his time with the military, he operated Predator drones, remotely firing missiles at targets more than 7,000 miles away from the small room containing his workspace near Las Vegas, Nevada.Mr. Bryant says he reached his breaking point with the US military after killing a child in Afghanistan that his superiors told him was “a dog.” Mr. Bryant recalls the moment: After firing a Hellfire missile at a building containing his target, he saw a child exit the building just as the missile struck. When he alerted his superiors about the situation after reviewing the tape, he was told “it was a f***ing dog, drop it.”Following that incident, Mr. Bryant quit the military and began speaking out against the drone program. During his time in the Air Force, Mr. Bryant estimates he contributed directly to killing 13 people himself and says his squadron fired on 1,626 targets including women and children. He says he has been left suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.     Mr. Bryant said he saw the man he targeted bleed out from his legs and watched as his body went cold on his thermal imaging screen. “The smoke clears, and there’s pieces of the two guys around the crater. And there’s this guy over here, and he’s missing his right leg above his knee. He’s holding it, and he’s rolling around, and the blood is squirting out of his leg … It took him a long time to die. I just watched him,” Mr. Bryant said in an interview with GQ.“That image on the screen is still in my head. Whenever I think about it, it still hurts me,” Mr. Bryant said. “When I pulled the trigger, I knew that it was wrong. When the middle struck I knew in my soul I had become a murderer.”Other airmen in Mr. Bryant’s squadron celebrated his first kill, saying “Brant’s popped his cherry.” Mr. Bryant was enlisted from 2006 to 2011, working as a sensor operator, which helps direct missiles to their targets.  

In a conversation with the Roots Action Network, Mr. Bryant recalled an instance early in his enlistment where he and his fellow drone operators were shown a video montage of drone strikes, after which they were told their jobs were to “kill people and break things.”

“It went against everything that I had ever learned about honor and justice and training. It was terrifying how dismissive people were about the whole affair. We were safe in the U.S. and those over there were not. We win. But that’s not how it goes,” Mr. Bryant said. 
Mr. Bryant said that despite his misgivings about the program, his superiors used punitive measures and mockery to keep him in line. 
“It broke my spirit. It went against everything I learned about being a warrior, about holding yourself to higher standards. My superiors psychologically beat me and ridiculed me to keep me in line. They took away my free time and forced me to sit in a seat or be tried under the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) for disobeying orders,” Mr. Bryant said. “In a sense, it was my prison. I served my time to learn and reflect. And so I hold the key now, to the entire apparatus. I just don’t know what to do with it.”
He has said the US military is “worse than the Nazis” because “we should know better.” 
Mr. Bryant said he and his family have been threatened for speaking out against the drone program and that he has lost friends and been estranged from other members of his family over his whistle-blowing. 
Ultimately Mr. Bryant wants the public to understand the dehumanizing effect of the drone program on the operators and the individuals targeted. 
“I would want people to know, beyond its existence, the consequences it has on us as a species to delineate our power into something so easily destructive. Every time we get closer to that edge, we’re going to have to realize where it places us,” Mr. Bryant said.

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Apply for free training in the building trades

If you're interested in getting training in the building trades, check out the program at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (this includes women!) at www.ubctexastraining.com  right here in Austin.   Austin is a leader in green building, and this training reflects that.

Education, Not Militarization, a video from Project YANO

A video from Project YANO -- Youth and Non-military Opportunities -- featuring high school students in California facing aggressive recruiting in their schools and discussing their own plans for their futures. 

Pope Francis reiterates his call to abolish nuclear weapons

"With deep conviction, I wish once more to declare that the use of atomic energy for purposes of war is today, more than ever, a crime not only against the dignity of human beings but against any possible future for our common home. The use of atomic energy for purposes of war is immoral, just as the possessing of nuclear weapons is immoral, as I already said two years ago. We will be judged on this. Future generations will rise to condemn our failure if we spoke of peace but did not act to bring it about among the peoples of the earth. How can we speak of peace even as we build terrifying new weapons of war? How can we speak about peace even as we justify illegitimate actions by speeches filled with discrimination and hate?"

-- Pope Francis, speaking this week in Nagasaki, Japan

Veterans for Peace takes action on Climate Justice

News came today from Veterans for Peace that VFP Executive Director, Garett Reppenhagen was arrested in Washington DC as part of the #FireDrillFriday action.  Today's action theme was the protection of the earth's water.  Here is what Garett said as part of his testimony:

'War is general is destructive to our planet in so many ways.  In Iraq, I saw firsthand demolition of utility infrastructure.  Destroyed plumbing made available clean water scarce and further damage to waste systems contaminated water supplies.  The fertile crescent was nurtured by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, now too polluted to swim in.  Today, precious few can even now count on something so simple as a safe cup of tap water.'
'When I came home, I became very self-destructive.  I was a sniper in Iraq and because I perpetuated those crimes, I felt a heavy weight of grief and guilt, and finding my way into activism started to save my life.  Repurposing myself and finding a new identity in the movement to serve this country in an HONEST way and protect my communities in a REAL way allowed me to start healing my moral injury.'

Teaching Environmental Justice -- a workshop in Austin by Rethinking Schools

Good news from the folks at Rethinking Schools:

Teaching Climate Change and Environmental Justice
Thursday, November 21University of Texas Austin College of Education

Dear Texas Rethinking Schools friends,
We are happy to announce that while in Austin for the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference, Rethinking Schools editor Bill Bigelow will offer a free full-day workshop on teaching about climate change and environmental justice on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019 at the University of Texas Austin College of Education.

Sign up here.

Bigelow will introduce lessons from the Rethinking Schools book he co-edited, A People’s Curriculum for the Earth: Teaching Climate Change and the Environmental Crisis . Each participant will receive a free copy of the book.

Event Details

University of Texas Austin College of Education
Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019

8:30am to 3:30pm

Ideal for in-service and pre-service teachers, other school staff, curriculum coordinators, teacher educators, school media specialists, and environmental justice activists.

Breakfast and lunch are provided.

Sponsored by the Texas Center for Education Policy, UT Austin College of Education, Environment Texas, and Rethinking Schools.

Space is limited, so sign up today

Meet the Teaching People’s History Team at NCSS 2019

And if you are going to the National Council for the Social Studies in Austin, Nov. 22-24, visit the Zinn Education Project booth in the exhibit hall, and attend workshops led by Rethinking Schools editors, Adam Sanchez, Ursula Wolfe-Rocca, and Bill Bigelow.
More details here.