Center for Citizen Initiatives

Bringing Russian and American citizens together in Peace since 1983.

Are We This Generation’s “Moby Dick”?

Dear Friends, with all the maelstrom of interpretations in media, and our own personal angst, Michael Brenner’s metaphor about Moby Dick seems apt. Please read and ponder this possibility.

Sharon

Consortium News
January 15, 2017

America’s Self-Destructive Obsessions

The U.S. population is led from one hysteria to the next, now transitioning from the Global War on Terror to the New Cold War with Russia, a fearful madness that is infecting the collective psyche, says Michael Brenner.

By Michael Brenner

Captain Ahab’s obsessive hunt for Moby Dick was driven by the thirst for revenge. The great white whale had maimed Ahab – in soul as well as body. Ahab was consumed by the passion to restore his sense of self, and make himself whole again, by killing his nemesis – a compulsion that his wooden leg never lets weaken.

America’s “war-on-terror” has become our national mission for restoration. The psychic wound of 9/11 is what grieves us; it inflames our collective passion for vengeance. The physical wound is already healed. By now, it must be memorialized in order for the scar to be seen.  It never did impair our functioning. In that sense, little more than a broken toe.

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You Can Make a Difference in 2017!

Dear Friends,

For the whole of 2016, we have been actively deliberating how best to use CCI’s 33-year experience in the US-Russia field––since Russia is increasingly being declared America’s enemy #1––which we totally reject.

We’ve concluded that our successful programs of the ’80s are precisely what is needed again in today’s baffling environment.

For those unfamiliar with our history, a few words follow:  In 1983 at the height of first Cold War,  twenty of us mainstream American citizens landed in Moscow with the goal to try to understand the deadlock with the “enemy” country. Sixteen days earlier, the 007 Korean airliner had been exploded in air by Soviet planes killing 269 persons aboard, some of them Americans.  America’s Congress and U.S. media burst forth in natural outrage.  The prospect of Nuclear War hung heavily across the world as we entered the Soviet Union. We first-time travelers to the USSR understood that more than ever that it was critical ‘to get eyes on the enemy’––to try to understand their mentalities and learn if the US-USSR relationship was utterly hopeless.

We began our investigations in Moscow with ‘eyes only.’ We didn’t confront, condemn or try to change the Soviets’ angst; we listened and spoke up … trying to remain neutral––which was difficult, since they were obviously frightened an all-out war could ensue. We passionately yearned to reduce the risks of Nuclear War for both Americans and Soviets––but as ordinary Americans were helpless to do anything but listen and try to get more information about the 007 flight.  Long days, multiple meetings, confrontations and deep sharings by the Soviets about their experiences of WWII sped by. On leaving the USSR, our brain cells were scrambled with conflicting accounts of the horrible tragedy still in the news worldwide. Flying home we made the decision to return to the USSR … somehow realizing that our work had just begun. It was a momentous decision for several of us.

Like magnets drawn to metal, we scheduled a second trip and took other Americans with us … then third and fourth trips.  Soon we were making friends on the streets in Soviet cities and starting small projects with some of our new contacts (getting A.A. across the USSR was one of the projects that succeeded beyond anything we could have ever imagined). Thanks to Gorbchev’s ascension to power in 1985, we got permission in 1987 to bring non-Communist party members to visit America––those whom we had met in parks, schools and in their small apartments.  All together, we brought Soviet travelers to 264 American cities in 1988 and ’89 (thanks to Steve Wozniak)––where both sides realized they really enjoyed and respected one another.  Among ourselves we declared that the Cold War dead!  Other American groups like ours had also entered the “citizen diplomacy” field.  By this time we collectively were making a difference in the mindsets of citizens across both Superpowers.

Our CCI travel activities in the ‘80s succeeded because they destroyed decades of myths, stereotypes and fears between Soviet and American citizens––and they began to reduce deeply-held resentments and fears of Soviet officials.  Soon, Gorbachev and Reagan met at Reykjavik, Iceland … and the rest is history. Cold War I vanished without a trace remaining.

Now 25 years later, we are into Cold War II ….

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World War Three, By Mistake

Hi Friends, a pleasant end of 2016 to you!

The New Yorker has published a “must read” piece on how close we may be to Nuclear War… as we enjoy Holiday celebrations and usher in 2017’s New Year.

Pointed out near the end of this article, the author confesses, “My greatest concern is the lack of public awareness about this existential threat (and) the absence of a vigorous public debate.”

This is the shared deep concern for most of us who follow these issues closely––yet the average American is totally unaware that this possibility exists––or what our scientists are saying.

We so need to be aware of what people like Shlosser are warning––then speak with others. You might try something light weight for openers; e.g., “What do you make of the scuttlebutt about being close to a nuclear war again?” Surely, they will have some response and may even think about it later.

Enjoy the Holiday week with family and friends!

Sharon

The New Yorker
December 23, 2016

World War Three, By Mistake

Harsh political rhetoric, combined with the vulnerability of the nuclear command-and-control system, has made the risk of global catastrophe greater than ever.

By Eric Schlosser

On June 3, 1980, at about two-thirty in the morning, computers at the National Military Command Center, beneath the Pentagon, at the headquarters of the North American Air Defense Command (norad), deep within Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, and at Site R, the Pentagon’s alternate command post center hidden inside Raven Rock Mountain, Pennsylvania, issued an urgent warning: the Soviet Union had just launched a nuclear attack on the United States. The Soviets had recently invaded Afghanistan, and the animosity between the two superpowers was greater than at any other time since the Cuban Missile Crisis.

U.S. Air Force ballistic-missile crews removed their launch keys from the safes, bomber crews ran to their planes, fighter planes took off to search the skies, and the Federal Aviation Administration prepared to order every airborne commercial airliner to land.

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Did the U.S. Influence Russia’s first Presidential Election?

Dear Friends,

Whether wrong or right, great indignation is being made about “Russia trying to influence America’s 2016 election.”

To date, there is still no evidence that this is actual fact. Still the accusations are repeated daily in U.S. mainstream media.

From another time: TIME magazine of July 15, 1996, proudly carries the full story about Washington’s total influence to elect Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s first president. Please see the linked document with photos below.

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UN Reporter Goes off Script Reporting on Syria

Russia Insider

UN Goes off Script in Rare Moment of Clarity: ‘The Agenda of Corporate Media Is Regime Change’ in Syria

December 10, 2016

Independent journalist Eva Bartlett sets a smug reporter straight during a UN Syria Mission press conference. Please take 3 minutes from your busy schedule and watch this amazing video.

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