WINSLOW MYERS: The challenge of helping Afghanistan while also serving U.S. security goals includes four aspects: first, U.S. fear of more terrorist attacks mounted from the region, second, fear that other powers, such as Russia or Iran, could assume undue influence, third, the potential use of the territory as a route to move resources such as oil and natural gas, and fourth, U.S. unwillingness to admit that the application of power may not part of the solution at all.
Letters to the Editor
LETTERS: This month’s letters include: 1) Drug and Insurance Companies Run DC by Ed Hemmingson; and 2) Schrader Responds re: Afghanistan by Rep. Kurt Schrader.
Obama Peace Prize: Three Views
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE: Three points of view: 1) Fred Miller, Regional Peace Action Organizer; 2) International Peace Bureau (Geneva, Switzerland); and 3) Filmmaker Michael Moore.
Army Prisoners Isolated, Denied Right to Legal Counsel
DAHR JAMAIL: Afghanistan war resister Travis Bishop has been held largely “incommunicado†in the Northwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility at Fort Lewis, Washington. Bishop, who is being held by the military as a “prisoner of conscience,†according to Amnesty International, was transported to Fort Lewis on September 9 to serve a 12-month sentence in the Regional Correctional Facility. He had refused orders to deploy to Afghanistan based on his religious beliefs, and had filed for Conscientious Objector (CO) status.
Schrader, DeFazio Call on Obama to Deescalate in Afghanistan
SCHRADER & DeFAZIO: Reps. Kurt Schrader (OR-5) and Peter DeFazio (OR-4) have joined a bipartisan handful of House members in signing the following letter to President Obama:
“Michael Moore’s Action Plan: 15 Things Every American Can Do Right Nowâ€
MICHAEL MOORE: You want something to do? Well, you’ve come to the right place! ‘Cause I got 15 things you and I can do right now to fight back and try to fix this very broken system.