[pjw] REPORT BACK: A year of war and propaganda: Friday rally #153 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hello Iraq Affinity Group supporters

Well, it was icy, snowpacked and kind of cold last night at the Friday 
Rally for Peace and Justice, but thankfully there was no wind or 
precipitation as we gathered. Four of us arrived a little early and 
wrapped up a little early, a fifth joined for a short time but had no 
coat(!). We got a significant amount of support from the less-than-usual 
foot and vehicle traffic, including the driver of a PBOT truck and two 
women who came by to give a high-five. One man argued with our "No War on 
Russia" sign, but didn't realize yesterday was the anniversary of the 
invasion of Ukraine. All the same, when we told him about how the US is 
still bombing other countries (more below), he said that's not right 
either.

So, what did we talk about this week? Here's some of the news:

--A year into the war on Ukraine, the three 24 hour news channels on my 
cable service were all focused on the Murdaugh murder trial. That may be 
because they had filled their Ukraine quota earlier in the week when 
President Biden made a "surprise" visit to Kyiv. Having alerted Russia to 
his arrival, his then meeting with the actor/comedian who's the head of 
Ukraine made this all feel like a piece of stagecraft to bolster the war.

  https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/20/politics/biden-ukraine-zelensky-visit-one-year-war-anniversary-intl-hnk/index.html

---The US has also promised to send $2 billion in ammunition and drones to 
Ukraine, in a move that can't be called "diplomatic."

  https://apnews.com/ecd159914eb01c1145d703eb95855890

---In related news, the UN held a hearing on the bombing of the Nordstream 
pipeline, which the New Yorker indicated was carried out covertly by the 
USA. This story isn't clear of the outcome of the hearing.

  https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/02/1133752

--Horrible person but right-for-the-wrong-reasons Rep. Matt Gaetz has 
introduced a War Powers Resolution to get US troops out of Syria, pointing 
out there's no declaration of war and it's just putting people at risk. 
Because of how these resolutions work, it has to be considered in the next 
two weeks.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2023/02/23/rep-gaetz-introduces-war-powers-resolution-to-pull-us-troops-out-of-syria/

--Meanwhile, not satisfied to only provoke Russia, seeks to up the ante 
with China by increasing its troop presence in Taiwan from 30 to as many 
as 200 troops (which would be a 666% increase, is that a sign?).

  https://archive.is/FTLOK
  https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/u-s-to-expand-troop-presence-in-taiwan-for-training-against-china-threat-62198a83

---Speaking of China, Iraq is perhaps poking the US in the eye by trading 
directly with China using their currency (the yuan) instead of dollars.

  https://thecradle.co/article-view/21770/iraqi-central-bank-to-drop-dollar-for-yuan-in-trade-with-china

--As hinted at above, the US conducted another airstrike in Somalia, this 
time killing seven people.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2023/02/22/us-launches-third-airstrike-in-somalia-this-month/

--In slightly good news, a court ruled that 9/11 families are not entitled 
to the Afghan funds that the US seized after they abdicated from that 
country.

  https://www.reuters.com/legal/sept-11-victims-cannot-seize-afghan-central-bank-assets-us-judge-2023-02-21/

In local news, the Portland Police have identified a Sergeant who they say 
is responsible for putting an anti-protestor, violent slide into a 
training presentation. Sgt. McDaniel was previously known for pepper 
spraying a protestor right in the mouth during the Occupy protests of 
2011. They initially wanted to fire him but decided to give a few weeks 
off without pay.

   https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2023/02/22/the-portland-police-bureau-has-suspended-the-officer-it-believes-responsible-for-adding-the-dirty-hippy-meme-to-training-materials/

Haha, and I suppose you are wondering if we marched-- we did, but I gave 
these last two headlines before we took off.

--After killing 11 people in the West Bank, Israel bombed Gaza when 
Palestinians fired rockets to reach to the original violence.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-strikes-gaza-rocket-fire-deadly-nablus-raid

--After weeks of news of Republicans calling to cut the military budget 
(for the wrong reasons), Progressive Democrats have put forth a plan to 
cut $100 Billion from the budget... I hope to pay for human needs rather 
than war (it's hard to say, this is from a very conservative news source).

  https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/patriotism-unity/house-progressives-introduce-bill-to-cut-pentagon-spending-by-100-billion

Yes, there is no news of the little wagon of peace and the Ann Huntwork 
sign because I took the bus downtown, and between me and another rallier 
we had nine signs for the 4-5 of us who attended. We walked a truncated 
march route based on sidewalks I noticed (on my way in) were clear of ice 
and snow. (Mostly.) Interesting tidbit: The Apple Store (aka the 
Capitalist Zoo, due to its ongoing fenced-off appearance) was not open. 
Well, we didn't let the weather stop us!!!

I did bring with me flyers for the March 17 "20 Years Later, the 
US is Still in Iraq" event, but didn't hand any out. Remember you can find 
the flyers on the event web page:

   https://pjw.info/iraq20yl.html

Hope things clear up before next week!

peace
--dan handelman
peace and justice works iraq affinity group