Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
December 20, 2021
Hello All – Led by the US wars in Afghanistan and Syria, we have crossed a threshold and entered a world where wars will be fought by drones and (coming soon) autonomous weapons. For political leaders, not least in the USA, it is now possible to kill "the bad guys" without the risk of home-team casualties, and thus the further inconvenience of antiwar opposition. Yet for those on the receiving end of the Drone Wars, the terror is palpable and the casualty rates are high. This was brought home with a vengeance when, in the last days of the Afghanistan War, a US drone slaughtered a family of 10 people in Kabul, including 7 children, mistakenly believing that the target/family father was an ISIS bomber. The Pentagon maintained initially that this was a "righteous strike," but the presence of so many journalists on the scene, and a quick investigation by The New York Times, forced the Pentagon to admit that it had made "a mistake." For perhaps the first time, millions of Americans were tutored in what drone warfare was and how it endangered civilians.
Subsequently, The Times published a serious investigation into the massive killing of civilians during the final days of the war against ISIS in Syria; and recently The Times has published two devastating, comprehensive studies (here and here) on "the human toll of America's air wars" in Afghanistan. These investigations into hundreds of drone and air attacks show large and systematic disparities between Pentagon claims for "pin-point, precision bombing" and the actual records of civilian deaths.
A world dominated by militarized and surveillance drones, and by autonomous weapons, would be a nightmare. And yet that is where we are going; and based on the US record in Syria and Afghanistan, there is no opposition within the US military and political elite to this dystopia. What must be done asap is to build a campaign, similar to that developed to end the use of cluster bombs and land mines, aiming at an international treaty to ban militarized drones and autonomous weapons. This now has become the goal of at least one organization, BanKillerDrones, which is working to persuade Congress to investigate drone operations and compile a complete list of civilian drone casualties, in part of provide reasonable compensation to the remaining families of drone victims, and in part to uncover patterns of emerging warfare that have been covered up by the Pentagon and their civilian allies in government. A dozen countries are now developing, producing, exporting, and employing drones, and many more will soon jump in. We can't afford to wait; we must act now.
Drones, Airstrikes, and Civilian Casualties
The Human Toll of America's Air Wars
Photographs by Ivor Prickett [December 19, 2001] [Link]
Hidden Pentagon Records Reveal Patterns of Failure in Deadly Airstrikes
BY Azmat Khan, New York Times [December 18, 2021] [Link]
The Mysterious Case of Joe Biden and the Future of Drone Wars
By Jeremy Scahill, The Intercept [December 15, 2021] [LInk]
How the U.S. Hid an Airstrike That Killed Dozens of Civilians in Syria
Dave Philipps and [Link]
How a U.S. Drone Strike Killed the Wrong Person
By Christoph Koettl, et al., New York Times [September 10, 2021] [Link]
News Notes
On Democracy Now! this morning Rep. Jamaal Bowman made a powerful statement criticizing Sen. Joe Manchin for refusing to support President Biden's $1.75 trillion "Build Back Better" legislative package. NB Bowman was one of 6 members of the Progressive Caucus who refused to abandon the Caucus plan to link the Infrastructure legislation with Build Back Better, not trusting the Senate to pass BBB if/once Infrastructure was passed separately. And they were right: Biden could not "deliver" Manchin once the roads and bridges legislation was safely passed. [See the Program]
Last week The New York Times published an article about Si Spiegel: "He Bombed the Nazis, Outwitted the Soviets and Modernized Christmas." Not mentioned in this feature about a fascinating man and career was that he was a supporter of the peace and justice group WESPAC, headquartered in White Plains.
And a CFOW friend sent this poem by Jane Hirshfield - "Let Them Not Say" – that I liked and share here:
Let them not say: we did not see it.
We saw.
We saw.
Let them not say: we did not hear it.
We heard.
We heard.
Let them not say: they did not taste it.
We ate, we trembled.
We ate, we trembled.
Let them not say: it was not spoken, not written.
We spoke,
we witnessed with voices and hands.
We spoke,
we witnessed with voices and hands.
Let them not say: they did nothing.
We did not-enough.
We did not-enough.
[And to continue, go here.]
CFOW Nuts & Bolts
Please consider getting involved with Concerned Families of Westchester. We meet for a protest/rally each Saturday in Hastings, at 12 noon at the VFW Plaza (Warburton and Spring St.) A "Black Lives Matter/Say Their Names" vigil will be held on Monday from 5:30 to 6:00 pm in Yonkers at the intersection of Warburton Ave. and Odell. (In January, and February, vigils will be held on the first Monday.) If you would like to join one of our Zoom meetings, each Tuesday and Thursday at noon, please send a return email. Our newsletter is archived at https://cfow.blogspot.com/; and news of interest and coming events is posted on our CFOW Facebook page. 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!
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW - [And the Newsletter will be on vacation until next year.]
CFOW WEEKLY READER
Inside the Fall of Kabul
[FB – This is a magnificent photo-essay about the last days of the US war in Afghanistan.]
---- The Taliban were advancing on the capital, but the prospect of a peace deal frightened many of the guests, as much as the continuation of the war, which had mostly afflicted the countryside. At the insistence of the United States, negotiations between the government and the Taliban were underway in Doha, and a power-sharing agreement that would bring the Taliban to Kabul was seen as a disaster by the urban groups that had benefited from the republic's relative liberalism and international support, particularly working women. … The republic's accelerating collapse, which had begun in the rural areas, soon reached the towns and district centers, and finally the cities. On Aug. 6, Zaranj, the capital of Nimruz, became the first provincial center to fall to the Taliban. … After the fall of the capital, it took time to get used to seeing Taliban at the checkpoint outside our house. In the days that followed, their scarce numbers in Kabul were bolstered by fighters from the provinces, arriving with the long hair and beards that would have gotten them profiled for arrest in the capital not long ago. Young, off-duty Taliban wandered around, clutching their weapons and staring at the bright lights and gaudy storefronts, while the city dwellers looked back warily. … Abandoned by their leaders and security forces, the capital's residents waited for what would befall them under the Islamic Emirate. [Read More] Also of interest: (Video) "Steve Coll on How the U.S. Pursued Withdrawal Over Peace in Afghanistan & Let the Taliban Take Over," from Democracy Now! [December 16, 2021] [Link]; and Coll's recent article in The New Yorker: "The Secret History of the U.S. Diplomatic Failure in Afghanistan"December 10, 2021] [Read More]
'We Will Bury Neoliberalism': Global Celebration Follows Leftist Victory in Chile
By Jake Johnson, Common Dreams [December 20, 2021]
---- Socialist Gabriel Boric's victory in Chile's high-stakes presidential election Sunday was hailed by progressives worldwide as an inspiring example of how a democratic groundswell can overcome deeply entrenched forces of reaction and chart a path toward a more just, equal, and sustainable future. Riding a massive wave of anger at Chile's neoliberal political establishment and the economic inequities it has perpetuated, Boric—a 35-year-old former student activist—handily defeated José Antonio Kast, a lawyer and politician whom one commentator characterized as "easily as reactionary as far-right dictator Augusto Pinochet," the leader of the U.S.-backed military junta that ruled Chile with an iron fist for nearly two decades…. Boric, who ran on the promise to undo the lingering vestiges of Pinochet's regime, will become the youngest president in Chile's history when he takes office in March. The transition of power comes amid national turmoil fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic and deep-seated economic and political crises that have made the South American nation one of the most unequal OECD countries. [Read More]. For some useful background, here is Chilean author Ariel Dorfman on Democracy Now! - [Link].
Acts of Rebel Sanity
By Frances Moore Lappé, The Progressive [December 15, 202]
[FB – Lappé is the author of Diet for a Small Planet and much else.]
I am a child of the sixties, fed by its energy and hope. In 1962, in its Port Huron Statement, Students for a Democratic Society called for participatory democracy, and it sure made sense to me. Fresh out of college in 1967—and pumped up by recent, historic civil rights and voting rights wins—I joined Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty. I tried to live up to its premise of "maximum feasible participation" as I worked in Philadelphia side-by-side with single moms seeking decent housing. But by the late 1960s, a very different energy gripped our culture: fear.
In 1968, Paul and Anne Ehrlich's Population Bomb exploded, warning that we were nearing the limits of Earth's ability to feed us. … At the time, millions of people were dying in African famines. I had to know: Is scarcity behind all this suffering? Fortunately, I had access to the agricultural library at the University of California, Berkeley. With my dad's slide rule and a friendly librarian's help, I dug in. Soon the math was undeniable: Our world was producing enough food for all, but our meat-centric food system involved staggering amounts of waste. So I began with a one-page handout, and soon my book, Diet for a Small Planet, was born. … What I've learned in the past half-century is that the power of belief—that is, the scarcity scare—has led to a huge loss of precious time. … False fears have long distracted us, dangerously enabling power to concentrate. Now let us put our legitimate fear to good use. With the courage to ensure all voices are heard, we each can contribute to saving life on our small planet. What could be more glorious? [Read More]
War & Peace
Nobel Laureates, Hundreds of Scientists Call on Biden to Reduce Nuclear Threat
By Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams [December 17, 2021]
---- Urging President Joe Biden to seize "a pivotal moment," nearly 700 hundred scientists and engineers including Nobel laureates called on the administration to take a number of steps to lower the risk of nuclear war including slashing the United States' arsenal of nuclear weapons.
… While Biden previously pledged to reduce the role of the nuclear arsenal, he's reportedly faced pushback from U.S. allies and the Pentagon against adopting a no-first-use policy, furthering fears from arms control advocates that the upcoming [Nuclear Posture Review] would be another example of the document "rubber-stamp[ing] the nuclear status quo." In their letter to Biden, delivered by UCS, the scientists said the U.S. needs to "dampen the renewed nuclear arms race with Russia and China" as well as "demonstrate that it is fulfilling its obligation under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) to take steps towards disarmament." To meet those goals, the letter calls for Biden's NPR to declare a no-first-use policy. [Read More]
War with Iran?
(Video) Iran Nuclear Talks Falter as Biden Admin Threatens "Alternatives" After Squandering Window for Diplomacy
From Democracy Now! [December 15, 2021]
---- The United States is continuing talks with Iran over its nuclear program after President Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015. With a new Iranian administration after April's controversial election, many worry that if talks fail, tensions between the two countries could turn into military escalation fueled by pressure from Israel. "The new hard-line team has been coming in to the negotiation table with more demands than the previous administration," says Iranian American journalist Negar Mortazavi. "They want sanctions relief from the U.S. in exchange for them scaling back part of their nuclear program." [See the Program]
Civil Liberties
Freeing Julian Assange: What It Will Take To End This Political Case
From The Dissenter [December 17, 2021]
---- The legal systems in the United Kingdom and the United States will not spare WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The only way this political case will end is if U.S. officials conclude the cost is no longer worth the benefit of making an example out of him. Support for prosecuting Assange comes from within U.S. intelligence agencies (particularly the C.I.A.), the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Defense Department, the national security division of the U.S. Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Virginia, and several influential senators and representatives in the U.S. Congress. … U.S. officials may sincerely believe all the allegations against Assange are reasonable and necessary to defend "national security," but that does not mean they are entirely unaffected by condemnation, especially when newspaper editorial boards, civil society organizations, and political leaders in allied countries call out a major contradiction. [Read More] And for a good analysis of how the mainstream media handles the Assange case, here is Glenn Greenwald: (Video) "The Real Disinformation Agents: Watch as NBC Tells 4 Lies in a Two-Minute Clip" [Link].
The State of the Unions
2021 Year In Review: The Only Way Out Is Through
By Alexandra Bradbury, Labor Notes [December 17, 2021]
---- We're on new terrain, but labor is finding its footing. This was the year of a sudden "labor shortage," the year everyone learned the phrase "supply chain problems"—and also the year that many who had been called "essential" saw how quickly they went, in the words of Kellogg's striker Trevor Bidelman, "from heroes to zeros." We saw especially private sector workers in various industries, both union and nonunion, animated by a fresh sense of confidence, defiance, and being just plain fed up. The results gave us genuine cause for optimism—including major turning points in union reform and a bumper crop of strikes. While we celebrate this year's strikes, though, we should be sober about how few they were. By the numbers, 2021 had nothing on any year from the 1930s through the 1980s. If some workers were buoyed with a new spirit, plenty more were beaten down and demoralized. [Read More]
Our History
(Video) Black Feminist bell hooks's Trailblazing Critique of "Imperialist White Supremacist Heteropatriarchy"
From Democracy Now! [December 17, 2021]
---- We look at the life and legacy of trailblazing Black feminist scholar and activist bell hooks, who died at the age of 69 on Wednesday. We speak with her longtime colleague Beverly Guy-Sheftall, professor of women's studies at Spelman College, who remembers her as "a person who would sit with young people and community people and students and help them understand this world in which we live, which is full of all kinds of domination." Working in the tradition of intersectionality and Black radical feminism, hooks's critiques of "imperialist white supremacist heteropatriarchy" called attention to the interlocking systems of oppression in hopes of eradicating them, Guy-Sheftall says. [See the Program]
