| To: Barbara
From James
Greetings from Ecuador! Hope you and Robert are doing well. I spent all of May in Costa Rica. Spent two weeks in the San Jose area then spent two weeks on the Panama-CR border. I just sent the following message to a dozen people. Please endorse this document, and circulate. When I return to San Diego, I'll start back into public speaking on Global Marshall Plan/ Global Commons Action Plan topics. I've already accepted several bookings. ===
All - The Nation magazine just published an article, yesterday, "Nine Reasons to Investigate War Crimes Now." I encourage you to read this new Nation article. Scrolling down to its latter half, you can read nine reasons the authors list, for creating some form of Truth-and-Reconciliation process. The reasoning is substantive. The public needs to respond to this difficult process of "facing the truth." This is not about "punishment," per se, much less "revenge." It's about re-establishing a basis for national and international civilization based upon principle, law, decency, truth and justice. It is important work. In various circles, in the US and abroad, I have been planting seeds, for approximately five years, related to the idea of eventually developing a broad international Truth-and-Reconciliation process - to help reset foundations of trust and understanding - and to feed into a developing Global Commons Action Plan / Global Marshall Plan process.
For now, I would like to encourage you to read the Nation article and, after doing so, to recommend to those in your address book and to the leadership of non-profit groups you're in contact with, that they promote endorsement of our www.UNASD-petition.org declaration. And, please endorse it yourself, if you've not yet done so. This document, approved by our UNA-SD Board, was designed to help elevate the thinking of our public beyond simply a "troops out" idea. We need to build a far more just, sane and cooperative world, with very different priorities, indeed - and we need to do it, soon. As part of that, we need to allow "ordinary citizens" the opportunity to place their "John Hancocks" on the line, to express their own freewill preference in a meaningful way, in favor of a far better world. The Nation article link; regards, ===
Here is a brief summary including the nine points. These and the full article are also posted here:
http://betterworldnews.blogspot.com/2008/07/nine-reasons-to-investigate-war-crimes.html
Retired General Antonio Taguba, the officer who led the Army’s investigation into Abu Ghraib, recently wrote in the preface to the new report, Broken laws, Broken Lives: “There is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.” the evidence confirming not only a deliberate policy of torture, but of conspiring in an illegal war of aggression and conducting a criminal occupation, continues to pile ever higher.
Courts: US courts have issued a barrage of decisions against the Administration’s claim that they can do anything and still be within the law. Congressional investigation:
Impeachment:
Truth commission:
International: The British parliament is about to launch an investigation of Washington’s lying to the British government about its use of its facilities for “extraordinary rendition.” Prosecution: investigate both the destruction of the CIA’s interrogation tapes and the possible use of torture by the agency. The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, which argues that there is overwhelming evidence President Bush took the nation to war in Iraq under false pretenses and must be prosecuted for the consequent deaths of over 4,000 US soldiers. war crimes prosecutions against President Bush and other administration officials. Citizen action: Voters in Brattleboro and Marlboro, Vermont this spring approved a measure that instructs police to arrest President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for “crimes against our Constitution,” should they venture into those precincts.
Here are nine reasons why we must not let bygones be bygones:
1. World peace cannot be achieved without human rights and accountability. 2. The rule of law is central to our democracy. 3. We must not allow precedents to be set that promote war crimes. 4. We must restore the principles of democracy to our government. 5. We must forestall an imperialist resurgence. 6. We must have national consensus on the real reasons for the Bush Administration’s failures. 7. We must restore America’s damaged reputation abroad. 8. We must lay the basis for major change in US foreign policy. 9. We must deter future US war crimes. The specter of more war crimes haunts our future. Rumors continue to circulate about an American or American-backed Israeli attack on Iran.
Holding war criminals accountable will require placing the long-term well-being of our country and the world ahead of short-term political advantage.
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