I*M*P*E*A*C*HMENTS than INDICTMENTS

Prayer for Peace

We are one global family

All colors, All races

One world united.

We dance for peace and
the healing of our planet Earth.

Peace for all nations

Peace for our communities

And peace within ourselves.

As we join all across the world,
let us connect heart to heart.

Through our diversity we recognize Unity.

Through our compassion we recognize Peace.

Our love is the power to transform our world

Let us send it out NOW

MAY PEACE PREVAIL IN
EVERY HEART

Earth Dance



Imagine by John Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

'My Country, My Country' from EPIC

News of the independent film that is taking audiences into the heart of war-ravaged Iraq and into the home of Dr. Riyahd. Today I am pleased to tell you that MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY is now coming to television.

On Wednesday, October 25th, at 9 pm EST (check your local listings ), this critically acclaimed film will be shown on PBS's P.O.V. Let us know if you plan to tune in.
ABOUT THE FILM: From June 2004 to February 2005, director/producer Laura Poitras spent 8 months alone in Baghdad making the film. She explains: "I was motivated by a sense of despair about the war, and a desire to reveal what was happening in Iraq through the stories of people on the ground."
The result is a powerful film that captures what the Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC) is all about: educating Americans about what is really happening inside Iraq and connecting concerned citizens like you to the relief and development organizations and people who are making a difference on the ground, often at great personal risk.
You can help us spread the word by emailing your family and friends about this important television event.
We also need your help to raise awareness about what has become the deadliest international conflict of the 21st century. This week, the respected peer-reviewed public health journal The Lancet published a new Iraq mortality survey conducted by epidemiologists at John Hopkins University and Baghdad's Al-Mustansiriya University. The survey estimates that 655,000 more Iraqis have died since the war began in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred. Of those deaths, more than 600,000 are attributed to violence.
Behind each of those deaths, there is a story. On Tuesday, the same day that the survey was released, EPIC lost a dear friend.
Abdel-Sattar Abdullah Al-Mashhadani was a key humanitarian aid worker for LIFE for Relief and Development (LIFE), a Michigan-based aid organization that EPIC is proud to have worked with over the years. Abdel-Sattar oversaw many of LIFE's humanitarian projects in Iraq, including the opening of medical clinics, school renovations, and most recently, the completion of a major water treatment plant project in southern Iraq.
On October 10, 2006, Abdel-Sattar died in his native Iraq. Eyewitnesses report that his taxi was stopped at a checkpoint run by a sectarian militia near his home in Baghdad's Huriyah district. After showing his ID, he and his driver were pulled from the car and killed.
According to a statement by LIFE: "Many who had worked with Abdel-Sattar describe him as being a quiet, polite and kind man. He was 43 years, and is survived by his four children, his pregnant wife who is expecting to deliver in 2 months, and three brothers."
Please consider sharing Abdel-Sattar's story with a friend, and help us educate more Americans about the people who are risking their lives to make a difference in Iraq.

EPIC Promoting a free and secure Iraq since 1998

Parade For World PEACE

Receive admission to our after-celebration with Mr. Gandhi: HARRISON'S HOLLYWOOD PEACE PARADE

What started as a call to action for “One Human Family” by Harrison, during an hour-long conversation with Arun Gandhi, has quickly expanded to The United Nations Associations in Southern and Northern California and Kofi Annan with this invitation. We invite you to celebrate this premiere event in which Arun Gandhi, the 72 year old peace activist grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, will lead our parade. Mr. Gandhi, lifelong at his grandfather's side - revolution through assassination - was personally schooled in the full spectrum of Mahatma's teachings. Mr. Gandhi will be Joined by host Harrison, the award-winning host of "Harrison on the Edge", along with a panoply of Hollywood celebrities, politicians, and musicians—

all fueled with the support of intellectual dissenters Noam Chomsky, Gore Vidal, Howard Zinn, and Kurt Vonnegut in Harrison's historic Hollywood Peace Parade.
This special event is produced by KTLK AM 1150, LA's Progressive Talk Station and co-promoted by KPFK-FM (Pacifica) Radio.
October 28th at noon, Hollywood and Vine!

War Crimes Report

Ann Wright joins endorsers of War Crimes Report


International Anti-Occupation Network and Stop the War Coalition (UK) join report publishers (13 Oct 2006)

Read the full report: * War Crimes Committed by the US in Iraq and Mechanisms for Accountability(10 Oct 2006) [PDF]

"The War Crimes Report is an extraordinarily comprehensive and important presentation of international law that governs the conduct of nations and their military forces. The Report documents the blatant violations of international and domestic law by the Bush administration and US military forces including the use of illegal military tactics and illegal weapons." - Ann Wright

Gulf War Syndrom

Army veteran's illness remains mystery

By Greg Barnes
Staff writer

The words come out in sputters, the halting, deliberate speech of a woman suffering from brain damage.

“I ... wasn’t ... like ... this ... before.”

It’s Sherrie McGahee’s dismissal of a report released last month saying there is no mystery illness known as Gulf War syndrome.

McGahee’s illness mimics the symptoms of muscular sclerosis. Her body shakes. She can no longer walk. Fatigue causes her to take frequent naps. She suffers from depression.

Before she went to war in the Persian Gulf, Army Sgt. McGahee ran a marathon to show the troops she led that — even though she was in her 30s — she could still compete.

McGahee, who lives in Fayetteville, said she doesn’t know what happened once she got to the war theater. She only knows that her body began to deteriorate during her five-month deployment that began in 1990.

Perhaps, McGahee said, it was the drug many soldiers took to protect against nerve gas. Perhaps it was exposure to nerve agents themselves, or to pesticides or even the coal soldiers lit in their tents at night to keep bugs away.

Whatever it was, McGahee and more than 200,000 other soldiers who fought in the first Gulf War insist, it caused their illnesses.

Yet study after study could not pinpoint those illnesses to a specific cause.

The latest study, by the Institute of Medicine, concluded that although there is no mystery illness known as Gulf War syndrome, veterans who fought in the first war are more likely to be stricken with certain ailments.

The report found that 30 percent of Gulf War veterans developed multiple symptoms compared with 16 percent of soldiers who did not serve in the war.

The report confirmed that Gulf War veterans have a higher prevalence of symptoms such as fatigue, memory loss, muscle and joint pain, and difficulty sleeping. It found that these veterans had higher rates of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Strike Lou Gehrig’s desease and the other symptoms sum up McGahee’s suffering.

An American Woman's Startling Tale of Life in Iraq

Watch NOW
Airdate: Friday, October 13, 2006, at 8:30 p.m. on PBS.
(Check local listings.)

An American woman's startling tale of life in Iraq. This time on NOW.
Filmmaker Laura Poitras spent eight dangerous months documenting the life of an Iraqi medical doctor and his family as they struggled to maintain hope amidst the bombings, bloodshed, and military occupation. When she returned to America, Poitras was labeled with the highest possible threat rating from the Department of Homeland Security. Her resulting film, "My Country, My Country," is an intimate portrait of daily life in the war zone. On Friday October 13, at 8:30 pm, NOW's David Brancaccio talks to Poitras about her eye-opening experiences working on what The Village Voice calls "the most valuable piece of film to emerge about the war in all of its three years."
Poitras' film will debut on the PBS documentary series "POV" on October 25.

Note: Starting this Friday, the NOW Website will offer more clips from "My Country, My Country", insight into the life and work of Laura Poitras, and more perspective on life in Iraq.
-------
"My Country, My Country" opens nationally in theaters on August 4th. For more information, visit the Filmmaker's Website.

Excess Death in Iraq

Dahr Jamail | Excess Death in Iraq

Dahr Jamail writes, "655,000 Iraqis killed as a result of the US invasion and occupation of Iraq ... For over a year now, many Iraqis have been referring to what is happening in their country as genocide. With over 500 Iraqis being killed every single day as a direct result of the occupation, it is difficult to argue with them."

This

* Co-Author of Medical Study Estimating 650,000 Iraqi Deaths Defends
Research in the Face of White House Dismissal *

The White House is dismissing the findings of a medical study that says
650,000 people have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion. The study was
conducted by American and Iraqi researchers and published in the prestigious
British medical journal, The Lancet. We¹re joined by the report¹s co-author,
epidemiologist Les Roberts.

Listen/Watch/Read

This

Robert Parry | Moon, North Korea & the Bushes

Robert Parry writes: "The Rev. Sun Myung Moon's business empire, which includes the right-wing Washington Times, paid millions of dollars to North Korea's communist leaders in the early 1990s when the hard-line government needed foreign currency to finance its weapons programs, according to US Defense Intelligence Agency documents."

And Especially This

More Bullshit Treatment Of War Veterans During Time Of Conflict, 'Nam All Over Again!!

* Did VA Hide Figures Showing 1 in 4 US Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan
Disabled From Service? *

Newly released documents reveal that more than 150,000 soldiers who left the
military after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan have been at least partly
disabled as a result of service - this translates to one in four veterans.
What¹s more, it appears the Department of Veterans¹ Affairs was trying to
hide the figures. We speak with Paul Sullivan of Veterans for America.

Listen/Watch/Read

Vast Costs Loom!!

Vast Costs Loom in Iraq War Disability Claims

Nearly one in five soldiers leaving the military after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan has been at least partly disabled as a result of service. If the current proportions hold up over time, 400,000 returning service members may eventually apply for disability benefits when they retire.

The Loser

William Rivers Pitt: The Loser

William Rivers Pitt writes: "George W. Bush is making some history of his own these days. When all is said and done, he will go into the books as the first American president to lose two wars at the same time."

And:

Robert Scheer | Dear Leader Brings It On

"Over the past six years, our 'my way or the highway' president blew up a crucial nonproliferation agreement," writes Robert Scheer on US diplomacy with North Korea, "and then took every opportunity to personally insult the country's reportedly unstable dictator because it played well politically at home."

And More:

Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail | US Military "Turns Blind Eye to Killings"

Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail write that the US military is deliberately turning a blind eye to sectarian killings committed by government security forces in Iraq.

And Finally This:

Stephen Rohde | Military Commissions Act Shames the Constitution and Weakens America

Stephen Rohde writes: "The Military Commission Act is breathtaking in its denial of fundamental rights under the Constitution and international law. The law re-establishes virtually intact President Bush's military tribunals, which were rejected by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional."

Another Rocket in Baghdad - 10.10.2006

Alive In Baghdad
"Life, From Iraq's To You"

Mortar and rocket attacks have become more and more common in Baghdad. They have even started to seem like the weapon of choice in the growing conflict between Iraq's militias.


Another Rocket in Baghdad - Windows Media Player


Today's story is the second such event Alive in Baghdad has reported on in recent weeks. Um Basheer lives in a home near AiB correspondent Omar Abdullah. When her home was struck in the middle of the night, he rushed to the scene to bring you this story.



Visit 'Alive In Baghdad'
For More of their Video Reports and Blog Reports

N. Korea & U.S., Walk Down Memory Lane

Wednesday, 3 April, 2002, 12:06 GMT 13:06 UK
US grants N Korea nuclear funds

In releasing the funding, President George W Bush waived the Framework's requirement that North Korea allow inspectors to ensure it has not hidden away any weapons-grade plutonium from the original reactors.
President Bush argued that the decision was "vital to the national security interests of the United States".

And:


* Twilight of the Assassins: Why the U.S. Refuses to Prosecute the Cuban
Exiles Luis Posada Carriles & Orlando Bosch For the 1976 Bombing of Cubana
Airlines Flight 455 *

It was the first act of airline terrorism in the Americas: thirty years ago
on October 6, 1976, 73 died in the bombing of a Cuban passenger plane. Now,
one alleged mastermind lives freely in Miami, while another is being held on
immigration charges in Texas. We speak to journalist Ann Louise Bardach.

Listen/Watch/Read


And This To Catch Now, and Watch For On Your Local PBS Channel:


Marc Ash Interviews Bill Moyers Part II: "Is God Green?"
Part 2 of my interview with Bill Moyers looks at the second in Moyers' series of October specials, "Is God Green?" There's a growing concern among American Evangelicals: Global Warming. The right wing of American politics may no longer be able to count on Evangelicals to rubber-stamp their environmental polices. Moyers had a lot to say about the upcoming broadcast. - ma/TO

Moyers on America: "Is God Green?" airs on October 11th on your local PBS station. Check local listings for the time in your area.

All Nine Nuclear Powers In Violation!!

Scott Galindez | All Nine Nuclear Powers Are Violating Non-Proliferation Treaty

"As North Korea becomes the eighth confirmed nuclear power (Israel is not confirmed but considered the ninth) some of the blame has to go to the original five nuclear powers," writes Scott Galindez. "When the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty went into effect in 1970, the five countries who had nuclear bombs - the US, France, China, Great Britain, and the USSR - agreed to work to reduce and eventually eliminate their nuclear arsenals. Now, 36 years later, no disarmament talks are taking place between those countries."

HAUNTED BY COMBAT IN IRAQ

PTSD: A New Generation -- Trauma of War Follows Iraq Veterans Home

Haunted by Combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, Troops Find Help. The rat-a-tat-tat was so familiar. Stephen Edwards dropped to one knee and took cover behind a door. ``BRAVO TEAM,'' he yelled to his 10-year-old daughter, Lauren, and her perplexed friends. ``On my six, 300 meters, MOVE!'' Lauren? he wondered. What the hell was his little girl doing in a war zone?

Pauline Lubens / Mercury News
Sgt. Stephen Edwards, who served in Iraq with his California National Guard Unit from April 2004 until February 2005, suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. He says he is quick to anger and suffers from anxiety that prevents him from venturing out in public much.
Audio slideshow: A soldier's PTSD

'Our' Very Own Protected 'Terrorist'!!!

October 8, 2006
Castro Foe Puts U.S. in an Awkward Spot
By MARC LACEY

EL PASO, Oct. 6 — Thirty years ago, long before liquids and gels were restricted on airliners, a tube of Colgate toothpaste may have brought a plane down from the sky.
Cubana Airlines Flight 455 crashed off the coast of Barbados on Oct. 6, 1976, killing all 73 people aboard. Plastic explosives stuffed into a toothpaste tube ignited the plane, according to recently declassified police records.

Now, where oh where can Osama be?

Army Spc. Darrell Anderson

A Good News Update To A Previous Post HERE For One, Now Lets Help The Other!!

No Court-Martial for Army deserter


Darrell Anderson hugged his mother, Anita Anderson, during a press conference Tuesday in Radcliff, Ky., where he announcied that he was turning himself in at Ft. Knox as an Army deserter. Steve Dennis, his stepfather, was seen in the background. (Photos by Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal)

Army Spc. Darrell Anderson, who drew wide attention for deserting the Army rather than face a possible second tour in Iraq, was released Friday from Fort Knox and is expected to be discharged without a court-martial, his lawyer said.

“It’s really great he doesn’t have to face a court-martial,” said his attorney, Jim Fennerty of Chicago. “I’m all excited, he’s excited.”

Fennerty said Anderson expected to receive papers within 30 days formally giving him a less-than-honorable discharge.

You can read rest HERE

Blind Faith In Bad Leaders is not Patriotism

Challenging the Culture of Obedience

A patriot is a person who loves his or her country. Who among you loves your country so much that you have come here today to raise your voice out of deep concern for our nation--and for our world?

And who among you loves your country so much that you insist that our nation's leaders tell us the truth?

Let's hear it: "Give us the truth! Give us the truth! Give us the truth!"

SNIP: Read Rest Here

AWOL