September, 11 2014, 10:15am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Paul Kawika Martin
Policy and Political Director
Peace Action
pmartin@peace-action.org
951-217-7285
@PaulKawika
Peace Action Responds to Obama's ISIS Plan
In response to President Obama's speech on dealing with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Peace Action, the largest peace group in the U.S. made the following statements:
WASHINGTON
In response to President Obama's speech on dealing with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Peace Action, the largest peace group in the U.S. made the following statements:
"We agree with the president that there is no military solution to the problems posed by ISIS. And yet his proposed strategy relies far too heavily on the use of military force. It's time to stop the bombing and escalation and use the other tools of U.S. foreign policy -- working with allies in cutting off weapons, oil and funding streams for starters -- which will be much more active in dealing with ISIS," said Kevin Martin, Peace Action's executive director.
"True international support to deal with ISIS requires UN action and regional diplomacy," observed Paul Kawika Martin, the political director of Peace Action.
"History shows that US arms tends to fall into the wrong hands like in Afghanistan and now ISIS. More weapons in the mideast is not the solution and is more like pouring fuel on a fire," concluded Paul Kawika Martin.
Peace Action is the United States' largest peace and disarmament organization with over 100,000 members and nearly 100 chapters in 34 states, works to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs and encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights.
LATEST NEWS
PEN America Sounds Alarm Over Pentagon's Firing of Stars and Stripes Ombudsman
"Even as the nation is at war, Pentagon leadership is silencing independent voices that uphold credible reporting, part of a broader pattern of restricting press access to evade scrutiny."
Apr 24, 2026
PEN America, one of the nation's leading free expression groups, voiced alarm Friday at the Pentagon's firing of the ombudsman for the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, warning the move marks yet another blow to US press freedoms amid the Trump administration's war of choice in Iran and other lawless actions across the globe.
"Even as the nation is at war, Pentagon leadership is silencing independent voices that uphold credible reporting, part of a broader pattern of restricting press access to evade scrutiny," Tim Richardson, PEN America's journalism and disinformation program director, said in a statement. "Congress must defend the statutory independence of Stars and Stripes so that service members can continue to rely on it for independent reporting.”
Jacqueline Smith, who was tasked with upholding the Stars and Stripes' editorial independence from the Pentagon—which partially funds the newspaper—publicly announced her firing on Thursday in a defiant editorial, writing: "Apparently the Pentagon... doesn’t want you to hear from me anymore about threats to the editorial independence of Stars and Stripes."
Smith, who has served in the congressionally mandated ombudsman role since December 2023, wrote in Stars and Stripes that while she was not given a reason for her firing, "no one should be surprised" by the decision.
"For nearly a year, Pentagon leadership has placed more and more restrictions on the mainstream media. The New York Times sued and when the Defense/War Department lost in court, instead of following the judge’s ruling Secretary [Pete] Hegseth and company pivoted, finding another way to restrict journalists. The judge rejected that attempt, too," Smith wrote. "The laser beam turned to Stars and Stripes on Jan. 15 when Sean Parnell posted on X four paragraphs announcing a 'refocus' of the newspaper. Parnell is Assistant to the Secretary of Defense/War (Public Affairs); my firing notice came from his office."
"Since his 'refocus' post, I’ve been outspoken in my columns, media interviews, talks with national free press groups and communications with Congress about the Pentagon’s moves to take control of Stripes’ content," Smith added. "This newspaper has a long history of commitment to the military community and to journalistic values. Please don’t let it be controlled by Pentagon brass."
"My responsibility to Stripes and the First Amendment was paramount."
In January, the Pentagon announced plans to overhaul Stars and Stripes with the stated goal of moving its content "away from woke distractions that syphon morale"—without offering any examples of such content.
Weeks later, the Pentagon issued a memo declaring that the newspaper was "prohibited" from using "news stories, features, syndicated columns, comic strips and editorial cartoons from commercial news media." The directive barred the paper from reprinting material from The Associated Press and Reuters.
Smith criticized the Pentagon directive as another blatant and "unacceptable" attempt to infringe on the newspaper's editorial independence.
"What is happening with Stripes is within the broader context of the Pentagon attempting to restrict the mainstream media," she wrote in an April column. "At first it was by closing off areas of the complex where journalists previously had been able to go unescorted, then it followed last fall with the demand for the press to sign an agreement essentially saying it would not use any information not authorized by the department. That’s when more than two dozen journalists from mainstream media turned in their press badges and walked out. They still cover the news."
In a message to Stars and Stripes staff following her firing, Smith said she "knew it was risky to speak out."
"But my responsibility to Stripes and the First Amendment was paramount," she added.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Despite 'Big Tariff' Threat From Trump, UK Urged to 'Raise, Not Abolish' Tax on Tech Giants
"We need to stop kowtowing to him, stop offering him humiliating and unpopular 'state' visits, and start enacting economic policies that put the interest of people here ahead of Donald Trump," said one campaigner.
Apr 24, 2026
After President Donald Trump threatened to impose a new tariff on the United Kingdom over its Digital Services Tax, the head of a UK economic justice organization on Friday called for standing up to the US leader and even increasing the levy.
The 2% tax on digital companies such as search engines and social media networks that derive value from UK users—which applies to US tech giants such as Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet's Google—has generated significant revenue annually, including £808 million, or over $1 billion, for the 2024-25 financial year.
"We don't like it when they target American companies... whether we like those companies or don't like 'em," Trump—whose inauguration last year featured several ultrarich tech executives—said Thursday. He accused the UK of trying to "make an easy buck" and warned that "they better be careful."
"If they don't drop the tax, we'll probably put a big tariff on the UK," the president continued, suggesting that the tariff would be "more than what they're getting" from the policy targeting Big Tech.
Responding in a Friday statement, Nick Dearden, director of UK-based advocacy group Global Justice Now, said that "Trump's latest threats prove, yet again, that if you give in to a bully, they'll just come back for more."
Just months after striking a bilateral trade deal that notably did not alter the tax on tech companies, Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed an artificial intelligence pact last September. The latter, said Dearden, "rolled out the red carpet to Trump's Big Tech barons."
"But this wasn't the end of the story. Rather, the pact has given Trump an ongoing vehicle to bully the British government," the campaigner continued. "It's time to admit that Stramer's strategy towards Trump has been an abject failure. We should raise, not abolish the digital services tax, which has already raised billions of pounds for the British economy."
"Trump won't like this but that's just too bad, we need to stop kowtowing to him, stop offering him humiliating and unpopular 'state' visits, and start enacting economic policies that put the interest of people here ahead of Donald Trump," he argued—as the UK's King Charles III and his wife Camilla, the queen consort, prepare to meet with Trump at the White House on Monday.
Asked about Trump's tech tax threats, a spokesperson for Starmer's office told The Guardian that "our position on that is unchanged... It is a hugely important tax to make sure that those businesses continue to pay their share. So it is a fair and proportionate approach to taxing business activities in the UK."
As the newspaper noted:
The digital services tax is only meant to be an interim measure, and the UK government agreed in 2021 to phase it out, averting the threat of retaliatory tariffs on British products from the US.
The tax was meant to be replaced in 2024 with a new global system after the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) brokered a deal between 140 countries, including the UK, that proposed large multinational companies paying tax in the countries where they do business committed themselves to a minimum 15% corporation tax rate. Implementation has been beset with delays as a number of countries have continued to raise objections over the regime.
Trump's tariff threat comes after he has lashed out at Starmer—and other European officials—in recent weeks over their limited support for his illegal war on Iran. The US leader suggested to the BBC this week that he and the UK prime minister could only "recover" if the Labour leader embraced stricter immigration policies and "opened the North Sea" to the fossil fuel industry.
"I'm here to serve the British people always, to have their interests and to make sure that I make the right decisions for them," Starmer told the British broadcaster. "That is why I took the decision that we would not be dragged into the war in Iran."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Warren Says DOJ Dropped Powell Probe to Secure Installation of Trump 'Sock Puppet' as Fed Chair
"Anyone who believes Donald Trump’s corrupt scheme to take over the Fed is over is fooling themselves."
Apr 24, 2026
The Justice Department on Friday dropped its criminal investigation into US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, but Sen. Elizabeth Warren warned in response that the threat to the central bank's independence is far from over.
Shortly after US Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced on that her office was abandoning its months-long investigation of Powell for now, Warren released a statement cautioning that the end of the widely condemned probe didn't mean an end to President Donald Trump's efforts to take over the Federal Reserve.
Warren pointed out that while Pirro was no longer investigating Powell, the Justice Department is still investigating Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook, whom Trump has unsuccessfully tried to fire.
"Let’s be clear what the Justice Department announced today," said Warren. "They threatened to restart the bogus criminal investigation into Fed Chair Powell at any time while failing to drop their ridiculous criminal probe against Governor Cook. Anyone who believes Donald Trump’s corrupt scheme to take over the Fed is over is fooling themselves."
Warren concluded by saying that the US Senate should not move forward with the confirmation of Kevin Warsh, a financier whom Trump nominated to be Powell's replacement.
“This is just an attempt to clear the path for Senate Republicans to install President Trump’s sock puppet Kevin Warsh as Fed chair," the Massachusetts senator said.
Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) echoed Warren's criticisms, and said that dropping the Powell investigation wasn't enough to make him believe the president had given up on his quest to control US monetary policy.
"Trump wants a Fed chair that will do his bidding," wrote Kim. "He'll drop the bogus investigation into Powell but not Lisa Cook because it clears the path for Senate Republicans to confirm Kevin Warsh, Trump’s pick for Fed chair. You deserve a Fed that works for you, not Donald Trump."
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee also called foul on the Trump DOJ's machinations, writing in a social media post that the entire investigation into Powell "was just a political tactic and had nothing to do with evidence of a crime."
"The White House is using criminal prosecutions to free up spots on the Federal Reserve Board so the President can manipulate the money supply to cover up for his disastrous economic policies," the House Judiciary Democrats wrote. "And US Attorney Jeanine Pirro is content to abuse the grand jury process to attack Trump's chosen political targets."
University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers delivered a warning for Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who had vowed to hold up Warsh's confirmation until the probe of Powell was dropped, to resist the temptation to believe the investigation's end meant the crisis was over.
"While I admired Tillis' stand for Fed independence, this was always the problem with his strategy," Wolfers explained. "The president can meet Tillis' threshold of promising not to jail this end-of-term Fed chair, but he's kept open the option of threatening to jail the next one. The threats will continue unless the Senate refuses to confirm any nominee without clear legislation outlawing it. Congress has a role to play."
While Pirro is no longer investigating Powell, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said this didn't mean the probe had ended, but had been transferred to the Federal Reserve inspector general.
"The case is not necessarily dropped, it's just being moved over to the inspector general," Leavitt told reporters. "This has been a priority for the president. The investigation still continues."
LOL -- Leavitt says the Powell investigation actually isn't over
"The case is not necessarily dropped, it's just being moved over to the inspector general. This has been a priority for the president. The investigation still continues." pic.twitter.com/LW4jeKzY9p
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 24, 2026
This prompted Warren to reiterate that the Senate should not move forward with any vote to confirm Warsh as Federal Reserve chairman.
"Trump's spokeswoman says the witch hunt against Jerome Powell 'still continues,'" Warren wrote. "No Republican claiming to care about Fed independence should move Warsh’s nomination forward."
Trump for the last year has publicly attacked Powell for not aggressively cutting interest rates. Powell, who was nominated by Trump to be chairman of the Federal Reserve in 2017, has refused to cave into the president's pressure campaign, and has pointed to the Trump administration's own policies—in particular its global tariffs on imported products—as putting upward pressure on inflation.
Powell's term as chairman expires on May 15.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular