Mike Gravel and Joe Lauria Interview: A Political Odyssey

On Thursday, August 14th, Think Youth was honored to have Fmr. Senator Mike Gravel and journalist Joe Lauria on the podcast to discuss their book, “A Political Odyssey, The Rise of American Militarism and One Man’s Fight to Stop It.”

Co-hosted by Johnny Camacho, Elizabeth Cable, Jeff Pritchard, Mike Rushmore, and Dan Solis.

Special thanks to Seven Stories Press.

Episode 26 | [Download MP3]

Hersh: Congress Agreed to Bush Request to Fund Major Escalation in Secret Operations Against Iran

Veteran Investigative Journalist Seymour Hersh has published an article in the New Yorker Magazine that asserts that congressional leaders agreed to a request from President Bush last year to greatly increase funding, to 400 million dollars, for a major escalation of covert operations against Iran. This escalation of these covert and secret activities is meant to destabilize the religious leadership of Iran. Hersh wrote his article based upon information from “current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources.” The article notes that covert activities by the United States are not new in Iran–we have been conducting cross-border operations from Southern Iraq since last year.

The request for the $400 million was described in something called a “Presidential Finding”, signed by President Bush, and, under Federal Law, these Presidential Findings “must be issued when a covert intelligence operation gets under way and, at a minimum, must be made known to Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and the Senate and to the ranking members of their respective intelligence committees”. The article by Hersh noted later that, “In other words, some members of the Democratic leadership—Congress has been under Democratic control since the 2006 elections—were willing, in secret, to go along with the Administration in expanding covert activities directed at Iran, while the Party’s presumptive candidate for President, Barack Obama, has said that he favors direct talks and diplomacy.” This is a glaring contradiction and hypocrisy that is certainly not unfamiliar to the politics of the United States.

I hope that we all can now clearly see that the Republican Party is a war-like party of imperialists and interventionists. And I hope that we can now also clearly see that the Democratic Party is a war-like party of imperialists and interventionists, through their aiding and abetting of policies that are as such. I hope that we can now clearly see that both political parties are about policing the world, and spending huge amounts of taxpayer dollars to do so. We are spending 400 million dollars alone on trying to destabilize one single country. That money could have gone to education. That money could have gone to healthcare. That money could have gone to infrastructure. But, out of all of the needy areas of our country, our political leaders, of both parties, decided to direct the money instead towards destabilizing another country. 400 million dollars! That could not be described as “spare change”. Obviously, though, there is no “change” that our leaders can spare. And the small, superficial change that they do provide is worthless.

But Iran is not the only country targeted by the United States. According to Dennis Kucinich’s 35 Articles of Impeachment against President Bush, “On September 30, 2001, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld established an official military objective of overturning the regime in Iran, as well as those in Iraq, Syria, and four other countries in the Middle East, according to a document quoted in then-Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith’s book, ‘War and Decision’.” The four other countries in the Middle East were, according to Wesley Clark, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, and Lebanon.

It is my opinion that the United States has been the interventionist policeman of the world for too long. And especially covert interventions, because that promotes “blowback”, defined as a term used in espionage to describe the unintended consequences of covert operations. Hatred in the Middle East towards the United States as a result of our covert operations targeting Middle-Easterners, and then Middle-Easterners demonstrating their hatred in a terrorist attack, is an example of blowback.

Is it honestly in our best interest to undertake operations such as this, especially when domestic issues are in such dire need of attention? And, ask yourself, do we even have the right to interfere in and destabilize another country, someone else’s country, as such? My personal opinion is that we have neither the right nor the obligation to try to destablize the governments of other countries and throw them into political chaos. Aside from the concerns of blowback and the misplacement of tax money, it is very important to do unto others as you would want done unto yourself.

No Surprise, USA Won’t Ban Cluster Bombs

My friend Kasra sent me this video from Real News on cluster bombs, and it is a must see:

We need to ban these things. Aren’t military analysts and Lockheed Martin types always touting the latest weapons as super precise? Where are those things? It seems reasonable that if 111 countries can manage to ban cluster bombs, the USA can too.

As unfortunate as it is, I understand that for now, the USA is gonna keep making bombs, but cluster bombs are not the kind of bombs they should be making and children should not be the people they are maiming.

Navy Sonar Testing Harms Ocean Life

When whales began to beach themselves off the coast of California in March of 2000, many scientists and environmental activists knew something was wrong. An increase in beached whales became evident in 2003, following more common sonar testing under the Bush administration’s effort for greater Homeland Security.

Sonar testing is used by the United States Navy to track enemy submarines or while practicing training efforts in case of emergencies. In 2004, the Bush administration allowed the U.S. Navy exemption from following procedures to protect ocean life and their living environment. Scientists agree that frequencies put out by sonar systems have negative consequences to whales and other ocean life. Noises created by sonar can cause hearing loss, injury, and other disturbances to whales and dolphins. Beached whales are now showing up in hundreds off the coast of southern California where they are unable to get back into the ocean, and they eventually die.

A recent district court ruling stated that the Navy’s exemption from having to follow environmental standards was not in compliance with the law.

In a press release from the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) the organization argues that “The court is saying that neither the President nor the U.S. Navy is above the law.” The NRDC demanded the Federal Appeals Court to reject the Bush administration’s sonar waiver, and that “the Navy must be environmentally responsible when training with high intensity sonar, and that doing so won’t interfere with military readiness.”

The U.S. Navy must now be within twelve nautical miles from the coast to be allowed to practice sonar testing, and if near any ocean mammals, the testing must be terminated. The Navy also plans to appeal the case in an attempt to overturn the ruling.

—

Image from tn_critterman

President Bush Calls War “Romantic”

President Bush seems to have changed a bit since his days essentially dodging the draft for Vietnam. The Huffington Post reports that he recently said that fighting in Afganistan is “in some ways romantic.”

“I must say, I’m a little envious,” Bush said. “If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed.”

“It must be exciting for you … in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You’re really making history, and thanks,” Bush said.

There isn’t too much to say to that. Bush seems to fancy himself a general for toy soldiers. In reality, he has somehow become the commander-in-chief of a real army made of real men. In response, I would like to remind people of Wilfred Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum Est.” Here is the end of the poem.

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Bush has not been to war. When he knew that his name would soon be called and it would soon be his time to serve, he ran. Now, he says that he sees a good fight that he would be glad to take part in.

No. He doesn’t. He sees a game that he would like to play, and he wants more toy soldiers so that he can keep playing. War is not romantic, and it seems an insult to the brave men and women of the armed services to suggest that it is anything but hard gruesome work which should be avoided.

A Greater Appreciation for Peace

Eric Hall hailed from the fine city of Jeffersonville, Indiana. Jeffersonville is a city located on the Ohio River, just north of Louisville, Kentucky. “Jeff”, as its inhabitants have affectionately termed it, is part of Clark County, which was named for General George Rogers Clark (brother of William Clark of the Lewis & Clark expedition). The city of Jeffersonville itself was named for Thomas Jefferson, whose grid design was used as the layout for the city. Some of the localities that Eric Hall grew up with, in Jeffersonville, are Schimpff’s Confectionary (where you can get some of the best chocolate in the country, in my opinion), the Howard Steamboat Museum, and Mick’s Lounge (where the Papa John’s pizza restaurant chain was founded). Eric went to school at Jeffersonville High School, and he graduated from it in 2002. A little while after graduating high school, Eric joined the United States Army, as did many others from small towns where there were few opportunities. He found himself in favor of the goals of the Iraq War and desirous of contributing to the cause. My cousin went to the same school (from first grade through high school) and was friends with Eric, and that is how I first became aquainted with the story of Eric Hall’s Post Traumatic Stress disorder and the events resulting from it.

Read more

The Illogicality of Perpetual Wars

Throughout human history, humankind has been fond of waging perpetual wars, the meaning of which being a war waged upon an enemy that can never be definitively defeated. We likely do this because we are rather illogical creatures, creatures whose passions and prejudices can easily trump logic. In modern times, one place in the world where this illogicality of perpetual war has fully taken root is the United States of America. Given, all countries behave illogically to some extent (as they are all governed by fallible human beings), but America is the one that I know the most about. This illogicality is illustrated perfectly by two “wars”, one military and one not, that America currently is waging: the War on Terror and the War on Drugs.

Read more

Who Is Afraid of a Security Threat? That would be Rudy Giuliani

Our strong on crime and terrorism man canceled a trip to an office building when his security team was informed of an unspecified threat. On the other hand a headline like “Anti Terrorism Strongman, Giuliani Injured in Blast” wouldn’t look to good for his campaign. Let’s just hope the bomb would cause more than just an injury.

Anyways by running on a hate filled platform Giuliani only increases the odds of a terrorist incident happening to him or America. There’s a reason why most international terrorism occurs during Republican terms, and that’s because foreigners understand that Republicans are aggressive nationalists that will invade a nation, even just for financial gain.

No one wants wimpy foreign policy, but Americans should be especially fearful of bully based foreign policy, for that causes far more people to want harm to befall America. That’s why candidates that haven’t bullied other nations like Iraq, by declaring wars and then funding them without questions should be challenged for their positions.

Candidates like Kucinich and Obama have shown they are against the Iraq war and other needless violence, while others (including leading Democrats) have admitted to not being able to withdraw all troops from Iraq before 2012.

Get Military Recruitment out of our schools

The other day at school during lunch, my small group and I were approached by a navy recruiter. He thought he would be able to relate to us more by telling Chuck Norris jokes. “Did you know Chuck Norris’ tears can cure cancer? Too bad he doesn’t cry,” the guy quipped. After listening to a handful of more Chuck Norris jokes that I’ve already heard, I asked him “If Chuck Norris is so great, can he end the war?” Some people reading this might perceive that as rude. But what is more rude is that the military is actively recruiting young adults while still in high school. Read more