May 16, 2022

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Previously: Bulletin 300: NNSA: early pit production a "hedge," not strictly necessary; is there a "pit gap?", May 3, 2022

Bulletin 301: Oppose the war! Demand and create accountability for lawmakers who fund and promote more war in Ukraine

Dear friends and colleagues --

This afternoon we sent out the following press release. While there is little hope to stop the massive additional war funding under consideration in the Senate before Wednesday's scheduled vote, it is important to do everything we can to hold our government and elected representatives to account. 

Grave dangers loom in Ukraine war votes and escalations; opportunities open for journalists and citizens; We urge news media [and citizens!] to widen debate, pose questions, create accountability, May 16, 2022.

Please read this, as it contains most of the content of this Bulletin.

We believe this is a pivotal moment -- a long moment, but a moment all the same -- for our democracy. If we don't stand up with thoughtful voices now, independent of the mob mentalities that increasingly afflict this country, it will get increasingly harder to do so.

Please contact your elected representatives in Congress. Ask your senators to vote "no" on this bill. If your representative voted yes, or your senators plan to do so, do your best to create accountability for those votes, getting them in the record. Ask the tough questions that, right now, not one single Democrat in Congress is asking.

Needless to say, we are not talking about just making a phone call, which is why we addressed this request to the news media. We need to have a public debate. We won't have much of a debate before this week's vote, but this evolving war likely won't be over in a month, a year, or even a decade. It's a war for domination of the planet, and not just against Russia. We cannot afford it. There is no "winning." The longer this goes on and spreads, the more everybody will lose. 

The war will go on until the U.S. government realizes that its unipolar moment in history -- its empire -- is over. Clinging to that empire, waging hybrid war against all who refuse to be assimilated into the U.S. "rules-based international order," will lead to tragedy.

Meanwhile, war and more war is the biggest U.S. priority from here on out. The $54 billion the U.S. would be spending on this war if this passes comes to $441 per household, on top of the ~$7,800 we already spend.

As we said in today's press release, the Ukraine war can be seen as the first real battle of World War III. Nuclear disarmament, and cooperation to prevent the collapse of Earth's climate, are for the moment out the window.

This past Thursday we had an interesting public meeting about the war. Our notice for the meeting went like this:

This war, long in the making, is reshaping the world's security architecture as well as affecting U.S. domestic politics in every area, from climate and energy policies, to our growing propaganda and declining freedom of speech, and to our economy.

The risk of even more direct, and even more open, U.S. and NATO involvement in the war against Russia is very high. An abyss lies before us. Most actors in both political parties are enthusiastically rushing toward its gaping mouth -- including, as James Carden recently wrote, American progressives. Not one progressive member of the House joined the 10 Republican members who voted against the "Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022," signed into law by President Biden yesterday [May 9].

Why are American progressives supporting Nazi forces and a Ukrainian government that protects and rewards them? Why do so few people question official narratives about the war, and the actions of the Ukrainian government in the war? Why don't more people seek high-quality, independent sources of information to compare and cross-check what is happening and why, when so much is at stake? Why are so many intelligent people ignorant of the genocidal policies enacted by the post-Maidan Ukraine governments?

Also as of yesterday, the proposed new package of military and other aid to Ukraine was separated from the more controversial covid relief package so it could be passed by Congress more quickly. Why are "we" -- that's all of us now -- sending mountains of weapons into a war zone, which will deepen and prolong it this war, killing more and more people? Where is the peace community? Is there one? What can be done about this? 

At the meeting, we emphasized the overriding importance to not escalate or lengthen this war, or extend its frontiers as Finland and Sweden are unwisely planning to do.

It is really that simple. All strains of antiwar activism should be able to coalesce around this. Remember, the only government we can influence is our own.

Many have seen Greg's interview with Brian Becker at BreakThrough News ("Escalation in Ukraine: The Nuclear War Danger is Real," May 4, 2022), further spread by Caitlin Johnstone and then Consortium News.

Related, our promised antiwar billboard went up on I-25 in Bernalillo, NM on May 5 (photo). We have a simple web page up now for people who see the billboard and want better information and more thoughtful analysis than the propaganda widely on offer.

Greg and Trish