[pjw] REPORT BACK: US out of Niger: Friday rally #230 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hello again peaceful people

Last night's Friday Rally for Peace and Justice coincided with Nagasaki 
day. We had nine people at the rally and six on the march. It was very 
muggy, and it felt like even the moderate number of horn honks we received 
were a little sluggish. Still, we had several people stop by to talk, one 
person who took literature on their own initiative (and another who did 
that out of the back of my car when I was unloading at the office... glad 
all he took was a flyer!), and handed out many 1/4 sheet leaflets for the 
Friday rally.

One of those went to someone who was obviously a new security guard, who 
came up to us and said we're not allowed to have an unpermitted protest on 
the Square. UH THANKS GUY but we've been on this corner for ALMOST 23 
YEARS, I think it's quite legal. I talked him down, and no more threats 
ensued.

And, what did we talk about this week?

First, I gave a brief summary of the Hiroshima day event-- about half the 
people at the rally had attended. I talked about how the US had made its 
point by dropping the bomb on Hiroshima even though the war was basically 
over, but they wanted Russia to know they had the bomb. So they even more 
unnecessarily dropped a second bomb on  Nagasaki three days later, causing 
immediate and longterm suffering.

Speaking of Nagasaki day...

--The US ambassador boycotted the Nagasaki day memorial because Japan 
did not invite Israel. A statement from the Japanese government said 
they just wanted to have a peaceful event. This is a nice way to slam 
Israel's violent policies without calling them out by name.

  https://apnews.com/article/japan-us-israel-nagasaki-atomic-bombing-75745a8d700649930803bdc63548d805

---A plan is being cooked up for a postwar Gaza, assuming Israel actually 
ever declares the war to be over. Somehow the US is rounding up countries 
to act as a peacekeeping force including UAE and Egypt. But Jordan, Qatar 
and Saudi Arabia don't want to be part of something seen as being created 
to defend Israel against the Palestinians, quite rightly.

  https://www.timesofisrael.com/jordan-qatar-saudis-hesitant-to-join-us-driven-post-war-peacekeeping-force-in-gaza/

---After putting the entire region on edge by killing a Hamas leader 
in Iran last week, instead of trying to ease tensions, Israel killed 
another Hamas leader, this time in Lebanon/

  https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-814069

---And Israel killed four Syrian soldiers in airstrike.

  https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/four-syrian-soldiers-wounded-in-israeli-aggression-on-homs

--Speaking of Syria, a militia there attacked what this article describes 
as "US-backed" Kurdish fighters. Nice to see the counter-propaganda 
properly being used as the media continues referring to everyone opposing 
Israel's war as "Iran-backed."

  https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/war-on-terror/arab-tribes-pkk-terrorists-renew-clashes-in-syrias-east

--Speaking of lack of de-escalation skills, the US approved of Ukraine 
using its weapons deeper into Russia, which they did this week, and 
refused to say if there is a maximum distance that is allowable.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2024/08/08/pentagon-it-supports-ukraine-using-us-weapons-in-russias-kursk-oblast/

--And the American military continued its pointless bombing of Yemen, on 
Monday by itself and on Wednesday with its compatriots in the UK.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2024/08/06/us-airstrikes-pound-yemen-as-region-is-on-brink-of-major-war/

--OK, here's the good news from today's subject line (finally): The US 
troops are all out of Niger (a month early!), they even handed over the 
keys to their military bases.

  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/05/us/politics/us-military-withdrawal-niger.html
  https://archive.vn/efsHi

--But for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction (perhaps), 
as the US then moved 40 troops to northern Iraq for the first time since 
2020 (as they anticipated a 2021 full withdrawal that never happened). 
Wonder why? Maybe it's because BP got a new contract to drill for oil.

  https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26296

---Also in Iraq, five us troops were injured in an attack on a military 
base, did we find out yet why the US still has troops in Iraq? (See above 
entry about guarding the oil.)

  https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-personnel-hurt-attack-against-base-iraq-officials-say-2024-08-05/

In local news, the 2012 Settlement Agreement between the US Department of 
Justice and the City of Portland is now under the auspices of a Court 
Monitor, a team of about 10 people with various areas of expertise. When 
introduced to the community in May, one police advisor was "JT," Chief of 
the UCLA police, who led a violent crackdown on pro-Palestinian 
protestors. On Wednesday, the Monitor publicly announced that JT is not on 
the team any more. Score one for the community!

Along the march route, I noted that an Israeli airstrike killed nine 
people in the West Bank, again showing how Israel's violence continues 
with no consequence to them. One marcher said "it's not enough to take 
their land and put settlements on them they have to drop bombs too?"

  https://apnews.com/article/hamas-israel-raid-tulkarem-west-bank-palestinians-4ccf2a50855866662cd21a0315395286

As we headed back to the Square, tying things together, there's more money 
being spent on war in Israel that could instead go to human needs. The 
State Department said $3.5 billion, previously, approved by Congress, is 
going to be sent to allow more weapons purchases. There is no mention of 
any limits on how the weapons are to be used. Since Israel's been bombing 
schools, housing and medical facilities, the money is going toward 
subtracting such necessities from the planet instead of increasing them.

  https://gazette.com/news/us-world/us-releases-3-5-billion-to-israel-to-spend-on-us-weapons-military-equipment-cnn/article_ac7b1afc-d350-57de-9619-31c1ce0c60f3.html

This week the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign really had a mind of its 
own. It went out on my way to the Square but came back on when I arrived. 
Then when I stopped to hand literature to someone on the first block of 
the march, it froze up (just saying "US Out") but then started up again a 
few blocks later. And, no surprises, it went out at the "mystery spot" by 
the Apple Store. Maybe somebody fed the gremlins after midnight.

A new article says that COVID is the 10th highest cause of death in the 
country. That is alarming, but for context it was the 2nd and 3rd highest 
cause in 2021 and 2022. Still, as I've been doing, I'm reminding folks to 
use caution...

Feel free to join us some week maybe when it's not smoky and humid and 
hot... On that note, if you read this before 3 PM, the Alliance for 
Democracy sign holding is off for today... and will not return until the 
first Saturday in September.

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