Re: [haw-info] HAW Notes (including links to recent articles of interest)

1.  As an addendum to an earlier message from the HAW Steering Committee, which gave information on making contact with Iraq Veterans Against the War chapters and other antiwar groups, for possible involvement in Fall teach-ins or other events, here is a link to a list of chapter contacts for Veterans for Peace:  http://veteransforpeace.org/about_chapters.vp.html.

 

2.  Frank Brodhead, a history PhD and freelance author/activist, has begun a weekly series of mailings under the auspices of the antiwar coalition United for Peace and Justice, called Afghanistan War Weekly. Each issue summarizes, with links, numerous newspaper and magazine articles about the Afghanistan war. Anyone wanting to be on the e-mailing list can simply write to him at FBrodhead@aol.com.

 

3.  In addition to the previously mentioned panel at the 2011 AHA convention on the "Long War" (featuring Herbert Bix, Andrew Bacevich, Carl Mirra, and Staughton Lynd) another panel at the same convention will treat "The Public Uses of History and the Global War on Terror" with panelists Juan Cole, Greg Grandin, and Carolyn (Rusti) Eisenberg. The convention will be in Boston, January 6-9.

 

 

Recent Articles of Interest

"McChrystal's Strategy Shift: Reaffirming Afghanistan's Al Capone"

http://www.counterpunch.org/porter05252010.html

By Gareth Porter, CounterPunch, posted May 25

The author is an investigative historian and journalist with Inter-Press Service

 

"'Overcoming the Bush Legacy': New Language Is Not Enough"

http://www.zcommunications.org/overcoming-the-bush-legacy-new-language-is-not-enough-by-ramzy-baroud

By Ramzy Baroud, Z-Net, posted May 24

 

 ""Prompt Global Strike" Has Deep Roots in American History"

http://www.hnn.us/articles/126703.html

By Ira Chernus, History News Network, posted May 24

 

"Cries from the Past: Torture's Ugly Echoes"

http://www.truthout.org/cries-from-past-tortures-ugly-echoes59738

By H.P. Albarelli Jr. and Jeffrey Kaye, Truthout, posted May 23

 

"Those Awful Texas Social Studies Standards: But What About Yours?"

http://www.zcommunications.org/those-awful-texas-social-studies-standards-by-bill-bigelow

By Bill Bigelow," Z-Net, posted May 23

On conservative biases in other states' history standards

 

They Seek Them Here, They Bomb Them There…: Obama's Drone Blitz"

http://www.counterpunch.org/cloughley05212010.html

By Brian Cloughley, CounterPunch, posted May 21

The author is a longtime authority on South Asian military matters

 

"Obama's Flailing Wars: A Study in BP-Style 'Pragmatism'" 

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175248

By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com, posted May 16

[haw-info] Historians Against the War statement for coordination of 2010 Teach-ins on the Afghanistan war

  Dear HAW Members and Friends,

            We are writing on behalf of the Steering Committee of Historians Against the War to encourage you to plan teach-ins or other public events on your campus or in your community during Fall 2010. President Obama has said that US policy in Afghanistan would be reviewed at the end of this calendar year. This autumn may offer the opportunity for renewed public debate on the Afghanistan war and on US foreign policy more generally.

            If you plan such an event, or if you have already planned one, please let us know and we can feature the events on the HAW website.  HAW is in the process of putting together a possible speaker's list and a how-to kit to facilitate the organizing of these events.  They are not done yet, but for an idea of previous resources, please see http://historiansagainstwar.org/teachin.

The Steering Committee encourages the partnering of scholarly speakers with antiwar veterans' organizations in staging these teach-in events.  The partnering of academic speakers with antiwar veterans, who have first-hand experience based on their deployment in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, will strengthen the presentations and increase understanding of the current US military actions in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Two links to antiwar veterans groups and other peace organizations are below, and a list for a HAW speaker's bureau will be ready for friends and supporters shortly.

Iraq Veterans Against the War-(IVAW) searchable list of regional and local contacts:  http://www.iraqveteransagainstthewar.com/chaptersandregions

United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) searchable list of local and regional peace organizations:  http://unitedforpeace.org/article.php?list=type&type=27

We thank you for your interest.  We look forward to your response and to assisting you with this important endeavor.

Inquiries and event announcements can be sent to:

Carlmirra@aol.com

Sincerely,

Matt Bokovoy, Staughton Lynd and Carl Mirra for the Historians against the War Steering Committee

 

 

HAW Statement on the Afghanistan War

 

October 2008

 

1. Whatever views we hold on the initial US military intervention in Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the US, it is now clear that the US/NATO presence in this country has become an occupation, increasingly resented and opposed by large sections of the population.

 

2. Despite the relief that met removal of the totalitarian Taliban government by US and NATO forces, the new government, chosen under the direction of the Bush administration, has distanced itself from the people, is rent with corruption, and barely governs anything. Outside of Kabul, warlords and criminal elements operate with impunity, the opium trade grows, violence -- including violence by the occupation forces -- proliferates, and the Taliban is resurgent.

 

3. The support for fundamentalist warlords and the corrupt Karzai regime demonstrate that the purpose of US policy in Afghanistan is not to support the self-determination of the Afghan people, but to extend the bankrupt global war against terror deeper into Central Asia, and to strengthen US geopolitical power in this region. The US/NATO war on Afghanistan is not a "good war" in contrast to the "bad war" on Iraq.

 

4. The current consensus in higher political circles, including both major party candidates for president, that the war in Afghanistan must be escalated will only deepen the regional crisis and suffering of the Afghan people. The historical experience of other outside powers trying to control Afghanistan (most spectacularly, the Soviet Union from 1979 to 1989, invading from next door over a wide common border) suggests that even a greatly escalated US/NATO war effort will only multiply the deaths and the suffering.

 

5. The US and NATO should immediately begin withdrawing their military and political assets from Afghanistan so that the Afghan people can have room to decide their own future. Continued US/NATO action in the country is a large part of the problem and cannot be the solution.

 

6. We call for regional agreement among Afghanistan's neighbors to guarantee Afghan stability, to preserve the ethnic and religious diversity of the country, to assure the full participation of women in social life, and to provide space for all of the people of Afghanistan to fully exercise their right to self-determination.

 

[haw-info] HAW Notes (including links to recent articles of interest)

1. The DVD Why Are We in Afgthanistan?, written by Mike Zweig of U.S. Labor Against the War, mentioned in a HAW mailing this past winter, is getting some strong endorsements (e.g., from the union representing faculty and staff in the New York State public university system) as well as winning the Studs Terkel Prize for Media and Journalism from the Working Class Studies Association. Both the full 28-minute version and a condensed 11-minute version can be seen on the web site, http://www.WhyAreWeInAfghanistan.org, which also has a link to a teacher guide and information on ordering the DVD.

2. A HAW-initiated session on the "Long War" has been accepted for the January 2011 AHA convention in Boston. Staughton Lynd proposed the session, which will also include Andrew Bacevich, Herbert Bix, and Carl Mirra.


Recent Articles of Interest

The Ghosts of Gandamark"
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/opinion/09dalrymple.htm
By William Dalrymple, New York Times, posted May 9
Lessons from the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42); the author is writing a book on that war

"Why Faisal Shahzad Bombed Times Square"
http://www.zcommunications.org/why-faisal-shahzad-bombed-times-square-by-pervez-hoodbhoy
By Pervez Hoodbhoy, Z-Net, posted May 8

"The Bomb: Howard Zinn's Last Call to Rebel Against War"
http://www.zcommunications.org/the-bomb-howard-zinns-last-call-to-rebel-against-war-by-jonah-raskin
By Jonah Raskin, Z-Net, posted May 8 (originally in the Rag Blog)

"The Downward Slope of Empire: Talking with Chalmers Johnson"
http://www.counterpunch.org/kreisler05062010.html
By Harry Kriesler, CounterPunch.org, posted May 6

"Blood or Treasure: Obama's Crucial Choice in the Middle East"
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/07-0
By Ira Chernus, TomDispatch.com, posted May 6

"Can the US Triumph in the Drug-Addicted War in Afghanistan?: Opium, the CIA and the Karzai Administration"
http://www.zcommunications.org/can-the-us-triumph-in-the-drug-addicted-war-in-afghanistan-by-peter-dale-scott
By Peter Dale Scott, Z-Net, posted May 5 (originally in the Asia-Pacific Journal)

"American Mistakes in Afghanistan and Iraq"
http://www.hnn.us/articles/126152.html
By Deepak Tripathi, History News Network, posted May 3

"'We're Summoning Our Forces...': May Day & SDS & SNCC Jubilee"
http://www.counterpunch.org/linebaugh04302010.html
By Peter Linebaugh, CounterPunch.org, posted April 30
The author teaches history at the University of Toledo

"The Pentagon Book Club"
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100517/turse
By Nick Turse, The Nation, May 17 issue, posted April 29

Maia Ramnath and Miram Jackson contributed items to this list. Suggestions for future mailings can be sent to jimobrien48@gmail.com.