Dear Friends,

I am sure that if any American takes a serious look at the costs of human suffering caused by these perpetual wars, they will be aghast and unable to sleep at night. A number of times I have tried to mentally put myself in the shoes of a refugee mother with my four small children to feed and protect… and other atrocities that are even worse for a mother to witness. It causes such pain that I have to close my mind to it. No wonder our young veterans come back from these wars emotionally torn to shreds and damaged for life––with now some 22 of them committing suicide daily.

When will we Americans wake up??? Wake up and demand a halt to all of this? Yes, I know it would cause huge unemployment in 45 out of 50 states where armaments are manufactured around the clock … and yes, to bring home army personnel from 800 military bases across the world would mean millions of jobless men coming back here to somehow make a living for themselves and their families. And yes … it would cause a huge shift in the U.S. financial system, no doubt a severe depression.

Who has a plan to find this many people a means to survive? Have we created a monster that we have no way to deal with other than continuing down this track? Where are our solution makers, our best minds who can tell us what the social and financial costs would be if we choose a course correction?

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

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Consortiumnews.com
February 4, 2018

Recipe Concocted for Perpetual War is a Bitter One

Perpetual war is leading to a host of societal ills, yet debates on war and peace are almost entirely absent from public discourse, Robert Wing and Coleen Rowley observe.

By Robert Wing and Coleen Rowley

Last October marked the 16th anniversary of our unending war – or military occupation – in Afghanistan, the longest conflict on foreign soil in U.S. history. The cost to human lives in our current cycle of U.S.-initiated “perpetual wars” throughout the Middle East and Africa is unthinkably high. It runs well into millions of deaths if one counts – as do the Nuremberg principles of international law – victims of spinoff fighting and sectarian violence that erupt after we destroy governance structures.

Also to be counted are other forms of human loss, suffering, illness and early mortality that result from national sanctions, destruction of physical, social and medical infrastructure, loss of homeland, refugee flight, ethnic cleansing, and their psychological after-effects. One has to witness these to grasp their extent in trauma, and they all arise from the Nuremberg-defined “supreme crime” of initiating war. Waging aggressive war is something America is practiced in and does well, with justifications like “fighting terrorism,” “securing our interests,” “protecting innocents,” “spreading democracy,” etc. – as has every aggressor in history that felt the need to explain its aggressions.

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Friends,

Please call your Congress members and let them know that Congress, not the President, should make the decision whether or not to declare war on another country. Republican Senator Paul says: It is wrong, it is unconstitutional and it should be stopped!

Read below.

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

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The American Conservative
May 7, 2018

Rand Paul: Congress Moves to Give the President Unlimited War Powers

The Kentucky senator warns the new AUMF is a massive abdication by the legislative branch.

By Rand Paul

In the near future, Congress will debate a new Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). I use the word “debate” lightly. So far, no hearings have been scheduled, and no testimony is likely to be heard unless something changes. That’s a shame, because this is a serious matter, and this is a deeply flawed AUMF.

For some time now, Congress has abdicated its responsibility to declare war. The status quo is that we are at war anywhere and anytime the president says so.

So Congress—in a very Congress way of doing things—has a “solution.” Instead of reclaiming its constitutional authority, it instead intends to codify the unacceptable, unconstitutional status quo.

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Friends,

America’s foremost authority on Russia and U.S.-USSR/Russia relations, Stephen Cohen, continues to speak out on the John Batchelor show regarding the insanity of “Russiagate” and the current and extremely dangerous Cold War II with Russia. Please refer this article to anyone you think may be even vaguely concerned about the politico/media’s hype coming out of Washington.

All the best,

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

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TheNation
April 25, 2018

Forgotten Truths: On the Imperative of Cooperating With—Not Criminalizing—Russia

Cooperation with Moscow remains vital for American national security, but “Russiagate” allegations, now codified in a DNC lawsuit, are making that decades-long pursuit a crime.

By Stephen F. Cohen

Audio:

Tales of the New Cold War 2018-04-24 – Russia is not a criminal state. Part 1

Tales of the New Cold War 2018-04-24 – Russia is not a criminal state. Part 2

Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies at NYU and Princeton, and John Batchelor continue their (usually) weekly discussion of the new US-Russian Cold War. (You can find previous installments of these discussions, now in their fifth year, at TheNation.com.)

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