Most Americans want access to quality health care for all. We're told we can't afford it. And yet we seem able to afford vast amounts of money for the military. Look at this chart that ranks countries by how much they spent on the military in 2008:
All of these countries except the U.S. have universal health care and have had it for decades.
Andrew Bacevich, an historian and retired military officer, has a suggestion: let's reduce the Pentagon budget so that it does not exceed the combined military spending of all ten of the next highest-spending countries in the world. Doing so would dramatically cut the U.S. military budget and free up money for socially important uses such as health care.
Congress is about to vote on yet another obscene military
budget, the defense appropriations bill for 2010. This bill includes $130 billion for the wars and occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq. President Obama will soon decide whether or not to send even more soldiers and contractors to Afghanistan. If he does so, it will ratchet the costs up even more--and for what?
 The tax payers of Maryland have already spent $3.3 billion on the war in Afghanistan, enough to have provided health care coverage for 653,493 people.
Let's tell Congress and the administration that we don't
want more troops sent to Afghanistan and we don't want a bloated military
budget. We choose life, not death--health care, not warfare. Here's how you can let your voice be heard:
- In Van Hollen's district? Ask him why he isn't supporting the McGovern bill, H.R. 2404, to require an exit strategy for Afghanistan. If you're in Donna Edwards' district, thank her for her co-sponsorship of this important bill. Contact info here.
- Sign the petition to President Obama requesting an end to the occupation of Afghanistan.
- Write a personal letter to our senators and your representative, asking them to vote against a bloated military budget and against funding more troops for the quagmire in Afghanistan. Contact info here.
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Afghanistan House Party a Great Success!
On Sunday night we held our second house party, this time in Silver Spring, to show and discuss the film Rethink Afghanistan. It was a great success, with lots of lively discussion! Won't you consider hosting one? It's easy and important--contact us and we'll give you all the details.
Help Us Demilitarize Our Schools
Don't forget Wednesday's critical meeting on demilitarizing our high schools! See details below--come, and bring your friends!
In peace,
Jean, Pat, Steve, Pam, Nik, Dave, Tim, Fran, Gail, and Bahram
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"
It is part of the general pattern of misguided
policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an
artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant
propaganda of fear."
General Douglas MacArthur, May 15, 1951
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| Calendar
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 Tues., Sept. 15: 7:30 p.m., "The Recent Iranian Elections and Their Aftermath," a talk by Mohsen Vaikili, correspondent for the Voice of America. River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 6301 River Road, Bethesda. Directions here.
Wed., Sept. 16: 7 p.m., Military Recruitment in Maryland Public High Schools. Silver Spring Library, 8901 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. Info on topics of meeting below.*
Thurs., Sept. 17: 7 p.m., Peace Action Montgomery meeting, 7 p.m., Rockville Library, 21 Maryland Ave., 2nd floor, student room #1. Directions here.*
Thurs., Sept. 24: 7 p.m., "Hope for Hard Times: An Evening with Paul Loeb: Stories About Students, Social Justice and Community Activism," Montgomery College, Rockville campus, Theatre Arts Arena, 51 Mannakee St., Rockville. Free and open to the public.
Thurs., Oct. 1--Sat., Oct. 3: Sabeel Conference on Palestine, Pursue Justice, Seek Peace. For more information and to register for this outstanding conference, click here.*
Fri., Oct. 2--Sat., Oct. 3: National conference on War Powers, Law and Democracy: "Who Decides About War?" Georgetown Law School. Register today for what will be a seminal conference!*
Mon., Oct. 5: The National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance is organizing a demonstration in DC the week of the anniversary of the Afghanistan war. Find out more here. We'll be participating in this demo and invite you to join us.*
Fri., Oct. 9: 6:30 p.m., potluck at Jean's house in Brookeville. Meet an Afghan woman representing the Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women, who will talk about the situation of women in Afghanistan and recommendations for future US policy. To RSVP and for directions, e-mail us here.*
Sat., Nov. 14--Sun., 15: The International Peace Bureau, the oldest international peace federation, will hold a conference in D.C. focusing on militarism's hindrance to development. Peace Action is a conference coordinator. More here.*
Every Saturday: Join a vigil for peace in Olney, corner of Rt. 108 and Georgia Ave., 10:30-11:30.*
Every Friday: Vigil at Walter Reed, in the open plaza between Dahlia and Elder streets, 7 to 9 p.m., come for any amount of time during that period.*
*Events that PeaceAction Montgomery has discussed and formally endorsed.
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| Demilitarize Maryland Schools
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We invite you to work with us on three campaigns:
(1) The Armed
Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test--legislation to protect student privacy: The ASVAB is used as a recruiting tool in 182 high schools
throughout Maryland and in 11,900 schools across the country. A student's
personal contact information is automatically shared with military recruiters.
Legislation introduced by Sen. Paul Pinsky this year in the Maryland Senate would have prohibited the
automatic release of this information in Maryland. This bill passed the Senate, but died in
a House committee. The Peace Action campaign will organize public support to
lobby state lawmakers.
(2) A state-wide study on the Junior Reserve Officer's Training Corps Program
(JROTC): The JROTC program is offered at over 3000 middle and high schools
nationwide. We will investigate instructors' credentials, in-school firing
ranges, textbook bias, and other issues.
(3) A state-wide study to determine adherence to federal law on recruiter access: Federal law mandates that military
and college recruiters enjoy the same access to high school students. In many
schools throughout the state, military recruiters are granted greater access to
students than college recruiters.
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When: Wed., Sept. 16, 7 p.m.
Where: Silver Spring Library
Who: You and your friends
The Silver Spring Library is located at:
8901
Colesville Rd., Silver Spring, MD 20910
From the Silver Spring Metro, walk north on Colesville
Rd., 4 1/2 blocks. Library is on the right.
For more info, contact Pat Elder.
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TO DO THIS WEEKCome to our meeting Wed., 7 p.m., at the Silver Spring Library to help us plan a strategy to demilitarize Maryland schools.
Contact Congress and tell them Health Care, Not Warfare.
Plan a house party on the Af/Pak war--we'll help! E-mail us here.
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Those Who Died in Iraq, Afghanistan & Pakistan, August 23--Sept. 5:Iraq:
Sgt Todd Selge 25 Burnsville MN
Spc Jordan Shay 22 Salisbury MA
Ltn Joey Fortin 22 St Johnsbury VT
Pvt Taylor Marks 19 Monmouth OR
Sgt
Earl Werner 38 Mondovi WI
133 Iraqis were killed.
Afghanistan:
Spc Tyler Walshe 21 Shasta CA
Cpl David Hall 31 Elyria OH
Pvt Jordan Brochu 20 Cumberland ME
Spc Jonathan Welch 19 Yorba Linda CA
Pvt Kevin Elliott 24 Scotland
Sgt Stuart Millar 40 Scotland
Cpl Richard Brandon 24 England
PO Benjamin Castiglione 21 Howell MI
Cpl Christopher Baltazar 19 San Antonio TX
Pvt Gavin Elliott 19 England
Ltn Darin Andrews 34 Dallas TX
Sgt Marcin Poreba 32 Poland
Cpl Johan Naguine 25 France
Sgt Eerik Salmus 26 Estonia
Sgt Raivis Kang 26 Estonia
Pvt Dennis
Williams 24 Federal Way WA
Sgt Ronald Sawyer 38 Trenton MO
Cap Cory
Jenkins 28 Meza AZ
Cap Shaun Bush 19 England
Cpl Donald Hogan 20 San
Clemente CA
Pvt Matthew Wildes 18 Hammond LA
Sgt Kurt Curtiss 27
Murray UT
Pvt Eric Hario 19 Columbia SC
Spc Abraham Wheeler III 22
Monroe MI
Sgt Jason Dahlke 29 Orlando FL
366 Afghans and Pakistanis were killed. |
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Come to Gaza With Us in December!
Several members of Peace Action Montgomery are joining the Gaza Freedom March, which will occur on Jan. 1, 2010 in Gaza.
This promises to be a hugely important international event. Join us!
Sign up now!
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A Letter from Victor!
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You may recall that we raised $1,000 for the defense of Victor Agosto, a soldier who refused to deploy to Afghanistan and was facing a court martial.
In early August, Victor was sentenced to 30 days in prison.
On Aug. 25, he wrote us this letter:
Peace Action Montgomery:
Thank you for your support.
I am in good spirits. I spend most of my time reading, writing, or playing chess. I live harmoniously with my 29 cellmates.
I hope all is well with you. Perhaps I will get a chance to meet with you in the future.
I will be released in four days. I can be reached at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Victor Agosto
We continue to follow the adventures of another refusenik, 21-year-old Josh Steiber from Gaithersburg, a soldier who successfully obtained conscientious objector status and is on a cross-country trek to expand his understanding of peace and love and to share his ideas.
Be sure to check his blog frequently, as it is inspiring and interesting to read his thoughts about the people he meets along the way.
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