October, 02 2009, 09:19am EDT
Who Decides About War?
WASHINGTON
"Who Decides About War" will confront essential questions raised by the
U.S. invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. These questions
are timely, as the process that brought the United States into those
wars is widely recognized today as having been flawed at best,
dishonest at worst.
What: National Conference on War Powers, Law and Democracy
Why: To ask: Who decides about war and peace? Congress? The President? The Courts? ThePeople? What kind of national defense should the U.S. have? What type of military?
When: October 2-3, at the Georgetown Law School, Washington DC
Veterans For Peace draws on our collective experience as members of the
military to raise public awareness of the true costs and consequences
of militarism and war-and to seek peaceful, effective alternatives.
Because VFP believes the cost of war to be so devastating and
encompassing, it finds that decisions to enter military conflict
without full concordance with the Constitution and law, to be
especially egregious.
The conference will bring together activists and academics, public
officials and veterans, lawyers and military families. We will use
facilitated discussions, panel presentations, and workshops to
accomplish two goals. First, to educate ourselves and each other about
the issues involved, the state of the law, and alternatives. Second, to
develop a statement of common principles leading to a more democratic,
comprehensive, and durable national defense policy - one that will
honor the Constitution and help keep the United States from entering
into unnecessary wars.
Confirmed speakers, as of September 18, 2009, include:
Jean Athey, Peace Action, Montgomery County, MD, Phyllis Bennis,
Institute for Policy Studies, Leah Bolger, National Vice-President,
Veterans For Peace, John Bonifaz, Attorney at Law, Elaine Brower,
Military Families Speak Out, Prof. Marjorie Cohn, President, National
Lawyers Guild, Rep. Michael Fisher, State Representative, Lincoln,
Vermont, Bonnie Gorman, Military Families Speak Out, Boston, Mort
Halperin, Senior Adviser, Open Society Institute, Keynote Speaker, Sen.
Richard Madaleno, State Senator, Montgomery County, Maryland, Ben
Manski, Esq., Executive Director, Liberty Tree,Geoff Millard, Chair of
the Board of Directors, Iraq Veterans Against the War, John Nichols,
Esq., The Nation magazine, Sen. Jamin Raskin, Professor of Law,
American University, Caleb Rossiter, Professor, International Service,
American University, Jeremy Scahill, author, Blackwater, Keynote
Speaker, Benson Scotch, Senior Legal Counsel, Bring the Guard Home!
It's the Law, David Swanson, Founder, After Downing Street, Don
Wallace, Professor, Georgetown Law School
"Who Decides About War" is co-sponsored by the national campaign to
Bring the Guard Home! It's the Law and the Liberty Tree Foundation,
with hosts National Lawyers Guild at Georgetown Law School, and in
coordination with the Institute for Policy Studies, Democrats.com, and
Veterans For Peace, as well as After Downing Street, CODEPINK, Iraq
Veterans Against the War, National Coalition for Nonviolent Resistance,
Peace Action USA, and Progressive Democrats of America.
For more information, please visit www.veteransforpeace.org .
Veterans For Peace is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of peace by using our experiences and lifting our voices. We inform the public of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars, with an obligation to heal the wounds of wars. Our network is comprised of over 140 chapters worldwide whose work includes: educating the public, advocating for a dismantling of the war economy, providing services that assist veterans and victims of war, and most significantly, working to end all wars.
(314) 725-6005LATEST NEWS
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United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Thursday that he is "deeply concerned" by Israel's "recent and extensive violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity," including a ground invasion and airstrikes carried out by the Israel Defense Forces in the war-torn Mideastern nation.
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Israel claims its invasion and bombardment of Syria—which come as the United States and Turkey have also violated Syrian sovereignty with air and ground attacks—are meant to create a security buffer along the countries' shared border in the wake of last week's fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and amid the IDF's ongoing assault on Gaza, which has killed or wounded more than 162,000 Palestinians and is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case.
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Addressing the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and conversations it has sparked about the country's for-profit system, longtime Medicare for All advocate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday condemned the murder and stressed that getting to universal coverage will require a movement challenging corporate money in politics.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—a co-sponsor of Sanders' Medicare for All Act—similarly toldHuffPost in a Tuesday interview, "The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the healthcare system."
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Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) 2024 roundup, which was published Thursday, found that at least 54 journalists were killed on the job or in connection with their work this year, and 18 of them were killed by Israeli armed forces (16 in Palestine, and two in Lebanon).
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