[pjw] REPORT BACK: Biden bombs Afghans-- Friday rally #55 under stay-at-home order

[Peace and Justice Works]

Iraq Affinity Group supporters

Yesterday, Multnomah County re-entered the "high risk" category of COVID 
lockdowns, which now means our outdoor gatherings are supposed to be 
limited to 8 people (is it just me or is that changing all the time?).
https://sharedsystems.dhsoha.state.or.us/DHSForms/Served/le2351g.pdf
As usual this was not a problem, though we did have five people at our 
rally (masked up and distanced) including one out of town supporter who 
made a point to be at the rally. Traffic and foot traffic were only 
slightly down despite the new restrictions, and supportive gestures were 
plentiful.

I'll start the report back on the rally news by explaining the subject 
line of this week's email:

On March 17 (so, over 3 weeks ago), the US dropped bombs on Taliban 
fighters in Afghanistan, saying they were in violation of the peace deal 
(which has led the US and the Taliban to cooperate elsewhere).

https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-170765

It's likely this was a deliberate move to claim that the May 1 deadline of 
US troops to get out of Afghanistan is no longer valid, as Biden is still 
seeking to avoid fulfilling obligations set up (yes, yes, albeit under 
Trump) last year.

https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-171269

Meanwhile:

--The Washington Post did an in depth story looking at the leader of the 
Islamic State, who acted as an informant for the US inside Iraqi prisons. 
Many people theorize that the US created ISIS, either deliberately or just 
by continuing its occupation of the middle east:

https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Before-becoming-a-terrorist-leader-ISIS-chief-16084735.php

--The US is sending warships into the Black Sea to counter the Russian 
troop movements near the Ukranian border we talked about last week:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-usa-turkey-russia/u-s-to-send-two-warships-to-black-sea-russia-voices-concerns-idUSKBN2BW23D

--There's a possibility the US may lift some sanctions against Iran 
related to the nuclear deal in order to find a path to the US rejoining:

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/us-prepared-lift-sanctions-iran-231900627.html

--70 congresspeople wrote a letter to Biden saying he needs to get Saudi 
Arabia to stop the blockade of Yemen, which is killing thousands of people 
stricken by famine and disease.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-blockade-biden-pressure-saudi-arabia-democrats

----In that article is a direct link to the letter, which includes the 
names of Earl Blumenauer and Peter DeFazio. Not sure why Suzanne 
Bonamici's not on. Kurt Schrader... best not to talk about him.

https://khanna.house.gov/sites/khanna.house.gov/files/Khanna_YemenLetter.pdf

In local news, I reported that on Thursday, history was made when in a 
not-very-high-stakes police accountability hearing, Mayor Wheeler was 
among the four Council members who voted unanimously to find an officer 
acted outside of Bureau policy. At issue: did the officer break the rules 
when he refused to take a stolen car report, which resulted in the woman's 
car being towed to a car lot in Salem and her unable to afford to retrieve 
it? Council said yes. In 29 years following the oversight system, Portland 
Copwatch has never seen the Mayor/Police Commissioner vote to sustain a 
complaint.

Notably, there's no link for this story-- I guess PCW has a scoop on it. 
If you find something in the news let me know.

When we got to the part of the march where we talk Israel/Palestine, I 
angrily reported that Republicans blocked $75 million in aid that Biden 
had freed up to help build infrastructure in Gaza. They said they don't 
want to support terrorists. Then they should leave the United States, I 
say!

https://www.jpost.com/international/republicans-delay-biden-administrations-funds-to-palestinians-664595

In the home stretch, I reported that Biden's proposed military budget 
shows an increase of over $10 billion from the current year. This 
reaffirms what we talked about earlier, that he's not taking money from 
the bloated war budget to pay for his infrastructure/jobs bill.

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2021/04/biden-proposes-715b-military-budget-for-2022-heres-whats-in-it/

*Sigh*

It was really nice having our out of town guest. Where he's from they have 
a weekly vigil also, with 8 people who attend, though they did take a 
number of months off until vaccinations began. I was able to share the 
sights of the march route including the two parking garages we use as echo 
chambers (shouting "NO WAR!--war--war...), the few remaining Black Lives 
Matter murals (including the "No Justice No Peace" kitties at Pioneer 
Place mall), and the spot right near there where the Gucci Store makes the 
Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign go out, which it did again last night.

Although we are in the new lockdown phase, our plan remains that if we 
exceed the recommended group size that we split into two halves and people 
shadow the rally/march on the other side of the street. So, if you're up 
for it, do join us if you can.

Peace

dan handelman
peace and justice works iraq affinity group