Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
October 20, 2019
Hello All – The withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria, the Turkish invasion, the re-alignment of the (Kurdish) Syrian Democratic Forces with the Assad government, and the insertion of Russian forces between the Turkish invasion and the Syrian military forces in northern Syria – all this amounts to a military and political revolution.
President Trump's withdrawal of troops from northern Syria, and his "green-lighting" of the Turkish invasion, has generated bi-partisan outrage in Congress and among the US political and media elite. A very lopsided vote in the House of Representatives condemning Trump's actions in Syria, and Sen. Mitch McConnell's op-ed in the Washington Post similarly critical of Trump's actions, are the first signs that Republican support for Trump may be wobbling.
Liberal Democrats, such as Ro Khanna speaking on Democracy Now!, have rightly criticized Trump for the abrupt and irresponsible way that US troops are being withdrawn, especially in putting the Syrian Democratic Forces (Kurds) and the Kurdish communities of northern Syria in danger. But what do Democrats and antiwar stalwarts suggest instead? Somehow we must thread the needle between criticizing what Trump has done and supporting the removal of US troops from Syria and the greater Middle East.
In considering the Democrats' critique of Trump's Syria/Turkish move, we note that along with strong criticism there is a loud silence concerning what they propose, because the party is divided between advocates of peace and supporters of endless war. US war policy in Syria has always been a bi-partisan affair. President Obama began it, with the CIA arming and training Syrian "moderate jihadis" to overthrow President Assad's regime in Syria. But the rebels were anything but "moderate," and they now compose the Turkish-backed force. It is also worth noting that the Kurds in the Middle East have been betrayed by the USA many times before, by both Republican and Democratic presidents. Whatever Trump's faults in the way that he removed US troops and opened the door for the Turkish invasion, the disasters following on the bi-partisan post-9/11 wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan justify the antiwar movement's demands that these wars should be ended immediately.
Second, we must be clear that President Trump is not ending the wars in the Middle East. He is NOT "bringing the troops home." Since May 2019 Trump has raised the number of US troops in the Middle East from 60,000 to 74,000. When Congress passed the War Powers Act to end US support for the war on Yemen, Trump vetoed it. Trump has also escalated the bombing of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. The number of attacks using drones has also increased, as has the number of civilian casualties. And at the same time that he withdrew US troops from northern Syria, he sent 2,800 troops and fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. And Trump's attacks on the "military industrial complex" are also phony, as he has stuffed his cabinet and the Pentagon leadership with lobbyists from arms companies like Raytheon. And did we mention that the US military budget is now more than a trillion dollars a year?
Concerned Families of Westchester supports the impeachment of President Trump. But we reject the bi-partisan idea that to fight Trump we should somehow keep US troops in Syria and double-down on maintaining the "security" of an over-expanded Empire.
News Notes
Saturday's rally in Queens for Bernie Sanders for President had a big turnout and lots of enthusiasm. Last week Sanders was endorsed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. A highlight (imo) was AOC's terrific speech. Check it out!
Foreign countries "meddling" in US politics should be strongly condemned. This week the (UK) Guardian published documents showing "Israel's rightwing push to ban criticism of Israel on US campuses." Also useful: "Are Israel Lobbies Primary Threat to First Amendment? Report Exposes Right-Wing Effort to Ban Criticism of Israel in US Schools." [Link}.
While the thinking people of the world try to fight climate crisis by reducing/ending the use of fossil fuels, the US government gives billions of dollars to the industry. "Last year, the biggest fossil fuel companies paid zero dollars in taxes — and actually received billions in rebates." Read more here.
The New York Times published an excellent article showing how "Medicare for All" could be paid for simply by reducing the military budget. Read this comprehensive analysis/explanation from the National Priorities Project of the Institute for Policy Studies.
Things to Do/Coming Attractions
Sunday, October 20th – The United Nations Association of Westchester invites us – and especially "motivated students" – to join them for a county-wide showcase of student projects and campaigns that respond to the climate crisis. The event will be held at the Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 468 Rosedale Ave in White Plains, from 3 to 5 pm. To register, and for more information, go here.
Sunday, October 27th – Action Corps has been the leading advocate in our area to end US support for the Saudi war in Yemen. They will hold their annual "community meal" at 4 pm at Riverdale Temple to "celebrate our work championing justice for people most affected by climate disasters and violent conflict." Among the guests will be Rep. Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who has advocated for an end to the war in Yemen. For more information, go here.
Sunday, November 3rd – The next CFOW meeting is on Sunday, November 3, from 7 to 9 pm. We will have lots to discuss, as the impeachment saga will be over the top, with many collateral impacts on foreign and domestic policy.
Tuesday, November 12th - The International Sanctuary Declaration Campaign "has called together outstanding migrant rights activists from around the world to speak to the conditions they are facing, how they are responding, and what it will take to turn fortresses into sanctuaries." The event will take place at the Ethical Culture Society of Westchester, 7 Saxon Woods Rd. in White Plains, from 5 to 9:30 pm. For tickets ($10) and more information, go here.
CFOW Nuts & Bolts
Please consider getting involved with Concerned Families of Westchester. We meet for a protest/rally each Saturday in Hastings, from 12 to 1 p.m., at the VFW Plaza (Warburton and Spring St.) Our leaflet and posters for our rallies are usually about war or the climate crisis, but issues such as racial justice or Trump's immigration policies are often targeted, depending on current events. We (usually) meet on the first Sunday of each month, from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Dobbs Ferry Historical Society. Our weekly newsletter is archived at https://cfow.blogspot.com/; and news of interest and coming events is posted on our CFOW Facebook page. And if you would like to support our work by making a contribution, please send your check to CFOW, PO Box 364, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706. Thanks!
Rewards!
I only learned recently that the late John Berger's classic book, Ways of Seeing, was originally a BBC television program. Berger was one of our most creative interpreters of the artistic/visual world. Check out the program here. Enjoy!
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
SOME INTERESTING/ILLUMINATING THINGS TO READ AND WATCH
Death, Misery and Bloodshed in Yemen
---- Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Saudi-led coalition bombarding and blockading Yemen have killed tens of thousands, wrecking the country's already enfeebled infrastructure and bringing Yemen to the brink of a famine that may kill millions. President Trump signaled additional support for Saudi Arabia on October 11 when the U.S. military announced it would send thousands more troops to the kingdom, bringing the number of U.S. troops there to 14,000. Just as Greta Thunberg insists adults must become intensely aware of details and possible solutions regarding the climate catastrophe, people in the U.S. should learn about ways to end economic as well as military war waged against Yemen. For us to understand why Yemenis would link together in the loose coalition of fighters called Huthis requires deepening awareness of how financial institutions, in attempting to gain control of valuable resources, have pushed farmers and villagers across Yemen into debt and desperation. Isa Blumi writes about this sordid history in his 2018 book, Destroying Yemen: What Chaos in Arabia Tells Us about the World. [Read More]
Chicago's Teachers Are Making History. Again.
By Jane McAlevey, The Nation [October 15, 2019]
---- The strikes that spread from Chicago across the nation are happening because energetic, smart rank-and-file workers are finally taking back their own organizations—their unions—after too many years of risk-averse leaders whose unwillingness to use the strike weapon contributed to the downfall of the working class. Many teachers in Chicago are stellar educators: After an eight-year stint as a full-time leader of the union, Potter has returned to the high school classroom to teach eleventh-grade classes on "the theory of knowledge, civics and modern world history." But it's not just students at his school in the Back of the Yards neighborhood who benefit. Perhaps the most important lesson Chicago's educators have taught us is that to build a country where policy makers favor the supermajority rather than the 1 percent means a return to massive, supermajority strikes. It is only through such strikes that we can rebuild the solidarity desperately needed among workers—and between workers and the broader society. Strikes are to democracy what water is to life: not a distraction or a disturbance but the foundation. [Read More]
How Climate Crises and New Technologies Will Change What It Means to Be Human
An interview with Bill McKibben, The Intercept [October 19, 2019]
----- Is the human race approaching its demise? The question itself may sound hyperbolic — or like a throwback to the rapture and apocalypse. Yet there is reason to believe that such fears are no longer so overblown. The threat of climate change is forcing millions around the world to realistically confront a future in which their lives, at a minimum, look radically worse than they are today. At the same time, emerging technologies of genetic engineering and artificial intelligence are giving a small, technocratic elite the power to radically alter homo sapiens to the point where the species no longer resembles itself. Whether through ecological collapse or technological change, human beings are fast approaching a dangerous precipice. The threats that we face today are not exaggerated. They are real, visible, and potentially imminent. They are also the subject of a recent book by Bill McKibben, entitled "Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?" McKibben is an environmentalist and author, as well as the founder of 350.org, a campaign group working to reduce carbon emissions. His book provides a sober, empirical analysis of the reasons why the human race may be reaching its final stages. [Read More]
The Greening of the New Deal
By Steve Fraser, Tomdispatch [October 18, 2019]
…. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also known as FDR, would launch a "New Deal," a wide-ranging set of programs to promote economic recovery that would recreate the American political universe. From that moment to this one, it has served as ground zero for the country's political imagination, the Rosetta Stone for understanding every enduring political development of the last 75 years. President Harry Truman's "Fair Deal" (including proposals for universal health insurance and federal aid to education) and Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" were conceived as elaborations and extensions of what the New Deal had wrought in the 1930s. "Neo-liberalism" and the "new conservatism" were invented to undo what their creators considered its damage. Today, the "Green New Deal" — a 10-year plan introduced by New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey to transition to 100% renewable energy, while embarking on major social reforms — marks the far horizon of the left-liberal imagination. For those opposed to it, the Green New Deal, like the original one, is already considered little but camouflage for a program to introduce socialism to America. Like its predecessor, it arrives on the scene at a fateful moment. There is no way to exaggerate the gravity of the Great Depression in its time or the looming prospect of climate catastrophe in ours. The question is: Could the Green New Deal do what the first one did to stave off the worst — or even do more? [Read More]
Our History
Singing the Back Streets [Nelson Algren]
By Andrew O'Hagan, New York Review of Books [November 7, 2019 issue]
[FB – This is a review of Never a Lovely So Real: The Life and Work of Nelson Algren, by Colin Asher.]
---- Algren's conscience was trailed by the FBI. The reasons weren't very complicated. He was a writer out of the Depression who felt that America should be judged by how it treated its poorest citizens. As an artist, he had a special vision and a singular prose, and he used them to see behind the billboards and the newsreels, beyond the lipstick, beyond the fear, into the lives of people left stranded by the American dream. He offers a lesson in what it means to be a writer in a society that believes commerce is virtue. More than Walt Whitman or John Steinbeck, more than F. Scott Fitzgerald or Dorothy Parker, he reveals the essential loneliness of the serious writer, never fooling himself with baubles and status, but staying with his subjects, the forgotten in society and his own alien self. [Read More]
