August 6, 2020
Today, the seventy-fifth anniversary of the atomic attack on Hiroshima, should be a day for quiet introspection. I recall a summer morning following the U.S. 2003 “Shock and Awe” invasion of Iraq when the segment of the Chicago River flowing past the headquarters of the world’s second largest defense contractor, Boeing, turned the rich, red color of blood. At the water’s edge, Chicago activists, long accustomed to the river being dyed green on St. Patrick’s Day turned the river red to symbolize the bloodshed caused by Boeing products. On the bridge outside of Boeing’s entrance, activists held placards urging Boeing to stop making weapons.
This summer, orders for Boeing’s commercial jets have cratered during the pandemic, but the company’s revenue from weapon-making contracts remains steady. David Calhoun, Boeing’s CEO, recently expressed confidence the U.S. government will support defense industries no matter who occupies the Oval Office. Both presidential candidates appear “globally oriented,” he said, “and interested in the defense of our country.”
Investors should ask how Boeing’s contract to deliver 1,000 SLAM- ER weapons (Standoff Land Attack Missiles-Expanded Response) to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia “defends” the United States.
Here are excerpts from Jeffrey Stern’s account of a missile’s impact on the town of Arhab in a remote area of Yemen. In this case, the missile was manufactured by Raytheon:
Now, as Fahd walked into the hut, a weapon about the length of a compact car was wobbling gracelessly down through the air toward him, losing altitude and unspooling an arming wire that connected it to the jet until, once it had extended a few feet, the wire ran out and ripped from the bomb.
Then it was as if the weapon woke up. A thermal battery was activated. Three fins on the rear extended all the way and locked in place. The bomb stabilized in the air. A guidance-control unit on the nose locked onto a laser reflection — invisible to the naked eye but meaningful to the bomb — sparkling on the rocks Fahd walked over.
At the well,at the moment of impact, a series of events happened almost instantaneously. The nose of the weapon hit rock, tripping a fuse in its tail section that detonated the equivalent of 200 pounds of TNT. When a bomb like this explodes, the shell fractures into several thousand pieces, becoming a jigsaw puzzle of steel shards flying through the air at up to eight times the speed of sound. Steel moving that fast doesn’t just kill people; it rearranges them. It removes appendages from torsos; it disassembles bodies and redistributes their parts.
Fahd had just stepped into the stone shelter and registered only a sudden brightness. He heard nothing. He was picked up, pierced with shrapnel, spun around and then slammed into the back wall, both of his arms shattering — the explosion so forceful that it excised seconds from his memory. Metal had bit into leg, trunk, jaw, eye; one piece entered his back and exited his chest, leaving a hole that air and liquid began to fill, collapsing his lungs. By the time he woke up, crumpled against stone, he was suffocating. Somehow he had survived, but he was killing himself with every breath, and he was bleeding badly. But he wasn’t even aware of any of these things, because his brain had been taken over by pain that seemed to come from another world.
In 2019, the UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen observed “the continued supply of weapons to parties involved in Yemen perpetuates the conflict and the suffering of the population.”
These experts say “the conduct of hostilities by the parties to the conflict, including by airstrikes and shelling, may amount to serious violations of international humanitarian law.”
A year and a half ago, were it not for a presidential veto, both houses of the U.S. Congress would have enacted a law banning weapons sales to Saudi Arabia.
Another end-user of Boeing’s weapons is the Israeli Defense Force.
The company has provided Israel with AH-64 Apache helicopters, F-15 fighter jets, Hellfire missiles (produced with Lockheed Martin), MK-84 2000-lb bombs, MK-82 500-lb bombs, and Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) kits that turn bombs into “smart” GPS-equipped guided bombs. Boeing’s Harpoon sea-to-sea missile system is installed on the upgraded 4.5 Sa’ar missile ships of the Israeli Navy.
July 24th, 2020
We hope you were able to join us this afternoon at Niagara/Liberation Square for the National Day of Action to Support Portland! Get out in the streets to gather – wherever your latest town gathering place – to stand up for the people and against state violence! The state exists to serve the people, not to attack them!
On Sunday afternoon, please join us for our Nonviolent Direct Action Study, also at Niagara/Liberation Square. Come for shared learning, deepening commitment and trust, and strengthening our collective abilities to deliver nonviolent direct action and improve our nonviolence literacy. (Also see this great Ted Talk by Alia Braley.) More details – including agenda items – on our website.
Next week at MLK Park, Free the People WNY Coalition is hosting a Community Speak Out where stories will be shared on how policing in Buffalo and Erie County has affected each of us, our families, and our communities. If you can’t make it, you can submit your stories anonymously here. See more details in our events listing below.
As we continue to report, the fight for racial justice is ongoing – daily – at Niagara Square thanks to the WNY Liberation Collective. Our own Racial Justice Taskforce continues to work independently while also connecting with those at the Square and elsewhere.
We are also happy to report that the second (and final) week of our 13th annual youth summer camp, Camp Peaceprints, was another success! We are so grateful for and to all who joined us this summer and look forward to seeing you next year!
Lastly, we want to remind you that through August, contributions of $100 or more to WNYPC gets you one of Amanda Besl’s beautiful limited edition pieces (while supplies last), plus your choice of the #RESIST or #LoveIsLove lawn sign, AND will have your donation matched by the Fr. Bissonette Fund! For more information and to contribute, please visit the fundraiser page on our website. We cannot say it enough – this work can only be done with your support, for which we are so grateful!
Please see details and much more below, including other special events this week, regularly scheduled events, campaigns, fundraisers, and more at wnypeace.org, on our Facebook page, Twitter (@wnypeace), and Instagram (@wnypeace)!
Peace, thanks, solidarity and yes – love.
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We need you to make a call to your members of Congress today to urge them to support a critical amendments to cut Pentagon funding by 10%.
If you’ll recall, there are amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to cut the Pentagon budget by 10% in both the House and the Senate. Sponsored by Reps Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Mark Pocan (D-WI) in the House and Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the amendment would free up a much needed $74 billion for healthcare, affordable housing, and improvements to education programs, etc.
We’ve already had Sen. Schumer support the amendment! [1] This is HUGE. The Minority Leader’s support signals that the movement to make real cuts to the Pentagon is gaining traction beyond the usual suspects.And we do expect Sen. Gillibrand and Congressman Higgins will do so as well.
Great news – your efforts are making a difference!
Since we last contacted you to take action, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has added his name in support of the amendment.
A vote is likely on these amendments next week! Even if you’ve already taken action, it’s still imperative that you make this call as well to keep the momentum and pressure up!
Here’s what we need you to do today:
1. Call the Congressional switchboard at 1-202-224-3121
2. Ask to be connected to one of your member’s offices
3. Once connected, say:
For your House Representative –
Hello, my name is (your name) and I am a voting constituent from (your city). I am calling to urge my representative to support an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act by Reps Barbara Lee and Mark Pocan, which calls for cutting 10% off the Pentagon budget. This important step would free up $74 billion for healthcare, affordable housing, and improvements to education programs. The main threats to our true security, like the global health pandemic we find ourselves facing today, will not be solved militarily. By over-prioritizing the Pentagon and military solutions, our country is drastically underprepared for the crises that we are most likely to face. I look forward to hearing what the representative’s position is on this important issue.
For your Senators –
Hello, my name is (your name) and I am a voting constituent from (your city). I am calling to urge the senator to support an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act by Senator Sanders, Markey, and Warren, which calls for cutting 10% off the Pentagon budget. This important step would free up $74 billion for healthcare, affordable housing, and improvements to education programs. The main threats to our true security, like the global health pandemic we find ourselves facing today, will not be solved militarily. By over-prioritizing the Pentagon and military solutions, our country is drastically underprepared for the crises that we are most likely to face. I look forward to hearing what the senator’s position is on this important issue.
The stakes today could hardly be higher. Over 40 million people are unemployed. More than 138,000 people have died from COVID-19, and thousands more are likely to perish. 5.4 million Americans have lost their health care during the pandemic. All the while, Congress is focusing on handing the Pentagon $740,000,000,000. Your time to act is now. Please call your members of Congress today and demand they do better.
Thank you for taking the time to act for a better tomorrow.
P.S. If your senators are Sanders, Markey, Warren, or Schumer, be sure to make the call and thank them for supporting this important amendment. To see if your representative is already a cosponor, click here.
Sources:
[1}https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-welcomes-schumers-support-for-effort-to-cut-pentagon-and-invest-in-human-needs
