[pjw] REPORT BACK: Keep the Guard Home: Friday rally #231 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Iraq Affinity Group supporters
It occurred to me as I sat down to write this that I connected with the 
Keep the Guard in Oregon campaign last weekend after I found out the latest 
news, and talked about it at the Iraq Affinity Group meeting, but forgot 
to inform this list:

Late last week, there was a "mobilization ceremony" for Oregon National 
Guard members headed to... Iraq and Syria. Yes, two undeclared war zones 
where US bases are targets of people who want Americans out of their 
countries. And this news broke as the Campaign was preparing its letter to 
Governor Kotek for this year (watch for it later this week).

The mildly good news is that our fellow Oregonians are actually in 
Oklahoma for training, so not directly engaged in imperialistic wars yet.

  https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/oregon-national-guard-deploy-middle-east-iraq-syria-artillery/283-d799f3b1-222e-49e4-9ba1-ac41f178515e

This is a long way to say that I literally dusted off and carried a "Keep 
the Guard in Oregon" sign for last night's Friday Rally for Peace and 
Justice. We had comments about many of our messages, but nobody asked 
about that one.

There were six of us at the rally and five went on the march. Comments 
included positive support for the Free Palestine message, a person who 
stopped us so they could record the Ann Huntwork sign (particularly the 
tribute to those killed by police), and a man whose alcohol-tainted breath 
may partly explain why he at first argued against the US out of Iraq sign 
but then lectured us about how America killed over 100,000 people in the 
war. Whose side are you on, I wondered?

We also had some cars honking in support but far fewer than usual. In 
fact, downtown seemed strangely deserted considering there was a concert 
about to start in the Square (though we did get to leaflet some people 
waiting in line there) and, apparently, a giant rock concert at the soccer 
stadium.

OK, so, in addition to the news about the Guard, here are some other 
things we talked about:

--I mentioned last week that I had neglected to announce Lloyd Austin 
overturning the plea deals for Guantanamo prisoners. There was new info 
this week, because the Judge now is reviewing whether Austin had the 
authority to do that. Though my non-lawyer brain says that's a simple 
"no," this article says it could take years for the court to sort it out.

  https://archive.ph/YhBRC
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/08/13/lloyd-austin-september-11-guantanamo-cases/

--In Gaza, another horrific milestone as the official total of 
Palestinians killed since October 7 passed 40,000.

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestine-killed-israel-gaza-passes-40000

---Part of that tally was last Saturday's US-backed IDF bombing a school, 
killing over 100 people.

  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/10/israel-strike-on-gaza-school-kills-more-than-100

---CNN says at least one of the bombs was American-made

  (I can't find the original article but it's cited as a source in several
  place including...)
  https://truthout.org/articles/israel-used-us-supplied-bomb-in-massacre-of-93-palestinians-at-prayer-in-school/

---In their never-ending warmongering, Israel has also bombed Lebanon 
again, killing two people and wounding over a dozen.

  https://www.newarab.com/news/two-killed-scores-injured-israeli-strikes-lebanon

--Meanwhile in another proxy war, in addition to the US bombs that 
Ukraine has been using in Russia, British tanks have now gone over the 
Russian border as well. This showing NATO's pledge to contain the war to 
Ukraine's territory is, well, I guess flexible?

  https://news.sky.com/story/british-challenger-2-tanks-thought-to-have-been-used-inside-russia-by-ukrainian-troops-sky-news-understands-13197260

--Eight US troops were wounded in drone attack in Syria, and need we even 
ask again why the US is in Syria? This one was at the Rumalyn landing 
zone, not "base camp Conoco."

  https://www.arabnews.com/node/2567318/middle-east

--In Iraq, the roller coaster continues as the announcement for when US 
troops will depart was delayed again (not surprising if they're bringing in 
Oregonians as cannon fodder).

  https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iraq-says-announcement-date-end-us-led-coalition-mission-postponed-2024-08-15/

In local news, national crime rate data came out showing that homicides 
and other violent crime are down about 23% in Portland. You will be 
hearing a LOT from people wanting to be on the new City Council, including 
progressive candidates, talk about addressing crime, many will call for 
more police. Well, not only are crime rates down but it's been shown there 
is no correlation between crime rates and how many cops are on the 
streets.

  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/portland-sees-significant-drop-in-violent-crimes-in-first-half-of-2024-research-finds/ar-AA1oSpo1

Along the march route, I noted that two Palestinians shot who were shot 
by the US-backed IDF in a West Bank raid on August 6 died of their wounds 
this week, adding to the 500+ death toll there since October.

  https://www.newarab.com/news/two-palestinians-succumb-wounds-amid-rising-west-bank-tension

One of our regulars mentioned too that settlers in the West Bank conducted 
their own violent attack which was so horrendous the Israeli government is 
condemning it.

  https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/settler-rampage-west-bank-sparks-rare-condemnation-israeli-112888124

And in a story that plainly illustrates the slogan "money for human needs, 
not war," Republicans in Congress are refusing to fund aid for survivors 
of radiation from nuclear testing and uranium mining. As is mentioned by a 
proponent of such aid in this article, the military budget is $860 
billion, surely they can find something to help people... to which I add, 
whose injuries were caused by the US.

  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/house-democrats-dig-in-amid-ongoing-fight-in-congress-over-compensation-for-us-radiation-victims/ar-AA1oLctL

So obviously the person stopped to record the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial 
Sign before we reached the Apple Store and it went out again. I 
noted there that it's incredibly rare that anyone says anything 
about the digital readerboard. One of our regulars, curious about 
the recording being made, said they had never even read the sign 
until this incident. We also noticed that the mystery spot is actually 
right in front of the Louis Vuitton store on the north side of the street, 
where we march, and I've never accused them of signal jamming the sign, so 
it's time to start now.

We're downtown every Friday at 5 PM at SW Yamhill and Broadway if you are 
comfortable joining us some time, you're always welcome!

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