Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
April 30, 2023
Hello All – After months of anticipation and speculation, Ukraine is about to launch its "counteroffensive" against Russian occupation forces. Recent disclosures have underscored the extent to which the USA/NATO will be co-belligerents in this offensive, training thousands of Ukrainian troops, supplying many kinds of advanced weaponry, and infiltrating an unknown number of military personnel into Ukraine itself. The success or failure of this offensive is expected to strongly influence whether one or all the parties to this conflict might consider diplomacy and negotiations, or whether the war will continue for many more months/years.
The recent leak of Pentagon documents by a low-level intelligence officer has allowed us to see some forbidden zones of the US understanding of the war. Most importantly, there is concern that Ukraine's military forces are inadequate to the task, and that the coming offensive might only reinforce the prospects of gridlock in the war. Additionally, there are small signs of dissent in Congress and the mainstream media: How long will this war go on? And is it worth it?
The dilemma for the US is illustrated by recent article in Foreign Affairs, the flagship of Establishment thinking about US foreign policy. Co-authored by Richard Haas, president of the Council on Foreign Relations (the publisher of Foreign Affairs), the writers argue that the war in Ukraine has diverted US attention and resources from issues of greater strategic importance for "national security." "This policy," they write, "regardless of whether it made sense at the outset of the war, has now run its course. It is unwise, because Ukraine's goals are coming into conflict with other Western interests. And it is unsustainable, because the war's costs are mounting, and Western publics and their governments are growing weary of providing ongoing support." One of the "other Western interests," of course, is US policy in the Pacific and the possibility of war with China.
The statement by the Council on Foreign Relations does not count the climate crisis among "other Western interests," but it is clearly the Number One existential crisis facing humans. Beyond the diversion of money and other resources from addressing this crisis to fighting the war in Ukraine, the war has suspended the international cooperation needed to prevent us from zooming past key indicators (such as a limit of 1.5⁰ Celsius increase in global heating) or breaking barriers on "feedback loops" that will doom us to forever over-heating. A report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warns that an El Niño-driven period of temperature rise is in the works, likely increasing the rise in the Earth's temperature by 2 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit over the next few years. – In a nutshell, humans simply don't have the option to dawdle and "see what happens" in Ukraine. We have a far more serious problem at our doorstep, which needs all our attention NOW.
War or Peace in Ukraine?
"The West Needs a New Strategy in Ukraine," by Richard Haass and Charles Kupchan, Foreign Affairs [April 13, 2023].
"Biden's team fears the aftermath of a failed Ukrainian counteroffensive," by Jonathan Lemire and Alexander Ward, Politico [April 24, 2023].
"Pentagon leak reinforces what we already know: US-NATO in it to win," by Anatol Lieven, Responsible Statecraft [April 10, 2023].
"Can China broker peace in Ukraine? Don't rule it out," by Rajan Menon and Daniel R DePetris, The Guardian [UK] [April 28, 2023]
All Out for May Day!
Monday is May Day, the workers' holiday. In today-speak, it is a day for the 99 percent to reflect on our achievements and on how far we have to go. One thing on my mind is the struggle for control of Time – to control the pace of work on the job and the amount of our lives that are "our own," as opposed to being at the command of others. The titanic strikes in France against raising the age of retirement are emblematic of this struggle. More generally, as Selma James writes, "capital takes who we could be and limits us to who we are. It takes our time, which happens to be our life." Our country's founding Manifesto laid down as a self-evident truth the unalienable right of people to "the pursuit of happiness." The great Haymarket rally of May 1, 1886 – the origins of May Day -- was about the 8-hour day: 8 hours for work, 8 hours for rest, and 8 hours "for what we will." The struggle continues.
CFOW Nuts & Bolts
Please consider getting involved with Concerned Families of Westchester. Weather permitting, 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 is held in Yonkers on Monday from 5:30 to 6:00 pm at the intersection of Warburton Ave. and Odell. Our newsletter is archived at https://cfow.blogspot.com/; and news of interest and coming events is posted on our CFOW Facebook page. Another Facebook page focuses on the climate crisis. If you would like to join one of our Zoom meetings, each Tuesday and Thursday at noon, please send a return email for the link. 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!
This week's Rewards for stalwart readers are songs for May Day, the workers' holiday that originated in the USA in Chicago in 1886 and spread throughout the world. First up is Pete Seeger and "Solidarity Forever," as important now as it ever was. Next, old friends Marcia Diehl and the New Harmony Sisterhood update "Union Maid." And finally, I think you will like Sweet Honey in the Rock's song, "More Than a Pay Check." Enjoy!
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
CFOW Weekly Reader
Featured Essays
(Video) "Sing Your Song": Remembering Harry Belafonte, Who Used His Stardom to Help MLK & Civil Rights Movement
From Democracy Now! [April 26, 2023]
---- We remember the remarkable life of Harry Belafonte, the pioneering actor, singer and civil rights activist, who died at his home on Tuesday in New York at the age of 96. The son of Jamaican immigrants, Belafonte rose to stardom in the 1950s and became the first artist to sell a million records with his album Calypso. He was also the first African American actor to win an Emmy. Along with his growing fame, Belafonte became deeply involved in the civil rights movement. One of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s closest confidants, he helped to organize the March on Washington in 1963 and frequently raised money to bail activists out of jail and fund their activities throughout the South. Belafonte was also a longtime critic of U.S. foreign policy, calling for an end to the embargo against Cuba, supporting the anti-apartheid movement and opposing policies of war and global oppression. He spoke out against the U.S. invasion of Iraq and once called George W. Bush the "greatest terrorist in the world." [See the Program]
Extinction Coalition [Climate action in the UK]
By Jon Allsop, New York Review of Books [April 27, 2023]
---- On New Year's Eve, the British arm of Extinction Rebellion posted a statement to its website: "WE QUIT." The headline was a provocation more than a promise, but it did herald a change in emphasis from the tactics that made the movement for direct climate action famous. "This year," the statement read, "we prioritise attendance over arrest and relationships over roadblocks." The new strategy would culminate in April with "The Big One," an open-ended mass demonstration in the streets around Britain's Parliament that its organizers placed in the tradition of the protests that precipitated Ukraine's Orange Revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall. … Extinction Rebellion first rocketed to widespread public attention in 2019 when it shut down central London—activists parked a pink boat emblazoned with the slogan TELL THE TRUTH in the middle of one of the city's busiest intersections—and more than a thousand protesters were arrested. It made three principal demands of the government: to tell the truth about the climate crisis; achieve net-zero emissions and an end to biodiversity loss by 2025; and convene a citizens' assembly in which a representative "mini public" would be called to make non–legally binding policy recommendations to fight the climate crisis. [To open, paste this link into your browser - https://archive.ph/l8hR9]
What the World Should Know About Sudan
By Nanjala Nyabola, The Nation [April 25, 2023]
---- Sudan, with all its complexity and changeability, is easy to fall in love with. This only makes recent events more devastating. The marriage of convenience between the military and the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary outfit built from the embers of the infamous Janjaweed militia, has collapsed into the worst fighting that the capital, Khartoum, has seen in a generation. Sudanese people have been protesting the military regime since the 2019 military coup, warning the world that this could happen. Both the current de facto president and the leader of the RSF were henchmen of the deposed former President Omar al-Bashir, who oversaw mass killings across Sudan. Sudanese people immediately saw through their new rulers' false promises of change and demanded a democratically elected government. As the date for a promised return to a civilian administration drew close, the contest between the two arms of military power has devolved into fighting, which has killed at least 300 people. [Read More]
Also of interest re: Sudan – "Sudan's Conflict Ignites Fears of Civil War in Darfur," New York Times [April 29, 2023] [Link]; "A resources grab is likely in post-conflict Sudan. But democracy isn't," b[Link]; and "Sudan conflict: Hemedti – the warlord who built a paramilitary force more powerful than the state," bApril 17, 2023] [Link].
War & Peace
(Video) The Monroe Doctrine, Revisited: How 200 Years of U.S. Policy Have Helped to Destabilize the Americas
From Democracy Now! [April 27, 2023]
---- This weekend, Democracy Now! co-host Juan González gives the opening plenary at American University's one-day conference, "Burying 200 Years of the U.S. Monroe Doctrine," marking 200 years since the Monroe Doctrine, the foreign policy directive from President James Monroe that effectively declared all of Latin America a U.S. sphere of influence. For the past two centuries, the Monroe Doctrine has been repeatedly used to justify scores of invasions, interventions and CIA regime changes in the Americas. On today's show, we speak to two other conference guests, CodePink's Medea Benjamin and The Red Nation's Nick Estes, about the Monroe Doctrine's long and brutal legacy within U.S. imperialism. [See the Program]
Also of interest/importance – (Video) "This is Not a War Story," from the Chris Hedges Report [April 29, 2023] [Link]; "A US-China War Over Taiwan?" by Michael T. Klare, The Nation [April 28, 2023] [Link]; (Video) "'Provocative & Dangerous': Biden to Send Nuclear-Armed Subs to South Korea as Activists Demand Peace." from Democracy Now! [April 28, 2023] [Link]; and "The Toxic Legacy of U.S. Foreign Policy in Vieques, Puerto Rico," by Foreign Policy in Focus [April 23, 2023] [Link].
The War in Ukraine
(Video) Medea Benjamin: Pentagon Leaks Show Ukraine War Is a Stalemate. Why Isn't the U.S. Pushing for Peace?
From Democracy Now! [April 27, 2023]
---- Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week for the first time since Russia's invasion last year. The call comes two months after China put forward a 12-point peace plan to end the war, and Xi reportedly said negotiations are "the only viable way out" of the conflict. The Chinese president also offered to send a special envoy to Ukraine to help resolve the crisis. To talk more about the war in Ukraine and growing calls for negotiations, we are joined by Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink and co-author of the new book War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict. "The world is calling for negotiations, and the U.S. keeps saying no," says Benjamin. "We are the ones who are holding up a peace process." [See the Program] Also of interest is "Pentagon Leaks Punch a Hole in the U.S. Propaganda War," by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies, The Progressive [April 26, 2023] [Link].[
How to End the War in Ukraine: On stopping the fighting and building the peace.
By Rajan Menon, Boston Review [April 26, 2023]
[FB – This issue of the Boston Review includes a half-dozen responses to this essay by Rajan Menon, very useful for thinking about where the war is going and how it might end.]
---- Over the last year Russia's invasion of Ukraine has produced a flood tide of commentary, with largely unconstructive volleys back and forth. Roughly speaking there are two main camps. Realists and progressives blame Russia's invasion principally, sometimes solely, on NATO expansion—a needless, provocative policy that, as they see it, posed an "existential threat" to Russia. Neoconservatives and many liberal internationalists, despite their political differences on other fronts, deny that NATO expansion had this effect, and even claim that it was wholly irrelevant to Putin's decision to attack Ukraine. Instead, they see Putin's ingrained imperial instincts and fear of a democratic Ukraine as the root cause of the war. The trouble with this impasse is that each camp makes blame for the war an all or nothing affair. After a year of enormous violence and destruction, we need a far more nuanced understanding of the war—its causes, how it might be ended, and the challenges that will remain once it is over. [Read More]
Also of interest – "The Most Dangerous Game: How Shadow War Over Ukraine Nearly Triggered Nuclear Holocaust," by James Bamford, The Nation [April 27, 2023] [Link]; and "US corporations cash in on Ukraine's oil and gas," by [Link].
The Climate Crisis
(Video) 'The system is not moving fast enough'
Chris Hedges interviews Extinction Rebellion's Roger Hallem [April 21, 2023]
---- Earlier this year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an international body of UN scientists, delivered a "final warning" to drastically cut global emissions in order to prevent the heating of the planet past 1.5 degrees Celsius. As the exponentially accelerating effects of the climate crisis have become more apparent in recent years, so too has activism to demand urgent action from governments. In the UK, a movement known as Extinction Rebellion (XR) first emerged in 2018, and then proliferated around the globe. XR has helped popularize the spread of civil disobedience tactics in the contemporary environmental movement. But what is the movement's theory of change? How does XR seek to proceed from direct action tactics to systems change on a timescale that matches the rapidly degrading state of our the earth's ecological systems? Roger Hallam, co-founder of XR and leader of the activist organization Just Stop Oil, joins The Chris Hedges Report for a conversation on tactics and strategy to save the planet, which ultimately requires transforming the system. [See the Program]. Also of interest is "How China can prevent climate catastrophe? Moving humanity toward global ecological civilization," by David Schwartzman, Monthly Review [April 11, 2023] [Link].
The State of the Union
(Video) Oklahoma Parole Board Denies Clemency for Richard Glossip, Rejecting Plea from State Attorney General
From Democracy Now! [April 27, 2023]
---- We speak with investigative reporter Liliana Segura about the remarkable case of Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip, whose execution is set for May 18. Oklahoma's Pardon and Parole Board on Wednesday denied Glossip clemency even though Oklahoma's own Republican attorney general has sought to vacate Glossip's conviction. Glossip has always maintained his innocence. The case dates back to 1997, when Glossip was working as a motel manager in Oklahoma City and his boss, Barry Van Treese, was murdered. A maintenance worker, Justin Sneed, admitted to beating Van Treese to death with a baseball bat, but claimed Glossip offered him money for the killing. The case rested almost entirely on Sneed's claims, and no physical evidence tied Glossip to the crime. Sneed, in exchange for his testimony, did not get the death penalty. "From the beginning, the evidence in this case was weak," says Segura, a senior reporter for The Intercept who has been following the case since 2015. [See the Program]
Israel/Palestine
Israel Is Throwing a 75th Birthday Party. Palestinians Have Little to Celebrate.
By Rashid Khalidi, The Nation [April 26, 2023]
---- The coming month witnesses two very different, albeit intimately linked, 75th anniversaries. This May, Palestinians will solemnly commemorate the Nakba, the catastrophe that befell their society and precipitated the establishment of a Jewish state in a country with a two-thirds Arab majority. Meanwhile, this week, Israeli Jews are celebrating the simultaneous creation of their state, one that by 1949 controlled 78 percent of the former Mandatory Palestine, and that since 1967 has controlled all of it, plus an occupied chunk of Syrian territory. Palestinian citizens of Israel are expected to cheer Israel's independence, which left them as second-class citizens of a state with at least 65 laws that discriminate against them, and that expelled 750,000 of their fellow Palestinians in 1948. For the millions of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip who have lived under the draconian control of the Israeli military for nearly three generations, and for the equal numbers of Palestinians living in exile whom Israel bars from returning to their homeland, there is also little to celebrate. [Read More]
Could Israel Carry Out Another Nakba?
By Peter Beinart, Jewish Currents [April 19, 2023]
---- When Palestinians explain the current government's agenda, however, many describe the policies advanced by Gottlieb and Ben-Gvir as part of a larger strategy: mass expulsion. In early March, Palestinian anti-occupation activist Fadi Quran told me he felt "like we are at the cusp of another Nakba"—the term that denotes the expulsion of roughly 750,000 Palestinians at Israel's birth. Last December, when the pollster Khalil Shikaki asked Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to characterize Israel's "long run aspiration," 65% chose "extending the borders of the state of Israel to cover all the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and expelling its Arab citizens" (emphasis mine). … Another Nakba is possible. By pretending it isn't, American officials conveniently avoid an uncomfortable but vital question: What would they do to try and stop it? [Read More]
Our History
May Day and Abolition
---- "Murther, murther, murther, murther …" shouted Free-born John Lilburne from prison. "M'aidez, m'aidez," says the international distress signal. Murder is the crime, and help is the need. That is the dynamic of the day, May Day. It's methodology therefore requires answers to two questions: Who? Whom? We remember los martiros, that is the martyrs who were hanged for their support of the Eight Hour Day and the police riot at Haymarket, Chicago. That struggle commenced on May 1st 1886. Who? Whom? The bosses hanged the workers. Their names were August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer, George Engel. Their hanging was judicial murder or state sponsored terror. "The day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are throttling today." Their last words, our prologue. The Haymarket hangings were preparation for mass murder at Wounded Knee (1890). Who? Whom? The army massacres the Lakotas. [Read More]
