[haw-info] for anyone planning to take part in the U.S. Social Forum this week in Detroit
Historians Against the War will have an information table at this week's U.S. Social Forum, Tuesday-Saturday in Detroit. The table will be in Cobo Hall, in whatever area is reserved for the many such tables.
Anyone interested in helping with the HAW table (or with finding the table!) could contact Fran Shor either by e-mail ahead of time (franshor@yahoo.com) or by cell phone during the conference (his number is 248-506-8128).
HAW is also co-sponsoring an anti-war session on Thursday afternoon June 24 from 1:00 to 5:30 in Cobo Hall D3-28.
Suggestions for inclusion in these more or less biweekly mailings can be sent to jimobrien48@gmail.com.The articles listed are on HAW-relevant topics and are by historians or at least have considerable historical content. Suggestions for this current mailing came from Maia Ramnath, Carolyn (Rusti) Eisenberg, and Larry Wittner.
"Iran's Green Movement: One Year Later: How Israel's Gaza Blockade and Washington's Sanctions Policy Helped Keep the Hardliners in Power" http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175259 By Juan Cole, TomDispatch.com, posted June 10 The author teaches Middle East history at the University of Michigan
The author teaches history at the Pennsylvania College of Technology
"Israel's Permanent Insanity: The Madmen of Our Times" http://www.counterpunch.org/prashad06012010.html By Vijay Prashad, CounterPunch.org, posted June 1 The author teaches South Asian history at Trinity College
"The Common Culture of Turkey, the United States, and Iran" http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/52695 By David Swanson, WarIsACrime.org (formerly AfterDowningStreet), posted May 30 With much historical background based on Steven Kinzer's new book Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America's Future
[haw-info] National Call-In Days: Afghanistan War Funding
Take Action This Week...
This week the House of Representatives is expected to vote on a FY 2010 Supplemental budget, which includes $33.5 billion to pay for the escalation of troops in Afghanistan. The Senate has already voted 67-28 to give the White House this money. (26 of 28 No Voters were Republicans, who objected to the inclusion of additional items in the bill).
If the figure seems oddly low, that's because the White House is also asking for another $159 billion in FY 2011 to pay for the two wars. This is part of an overall $708 billion request for the Department of Defense.
This past month, US expenditure for the wars in Afghanistan an Iraq have exceeded one trillion dollars. Meanwhile, the Congress cannot come up with the money to pay for jobs, extended unemployment benefits, or help to the states.
Please call your Representatives office and ask the House member to:
* Vote against the Supplemental spending bill for escalating the war in Afghanistan
* Co-sponsor and vote in favor of the McGovern bill (HR 5015,) requiring the President to provide a plan and timetable for "the safe, orderly and expeditious redeployment of US troops from Afghanistan." Text and List of Co-Sponsors http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR05015:
Congressional Switchboard; 202-224-3121
Two Commonly Asked Questions;
Haven't I received this action alert before? No. Although it seems like it because for the past 9 1/2 years, Congress has been giving the White House money to pay for the wars, with varying levels of opposition.
If I already know that Congress is going the President the money he asks for why waste a call? Because if a substantial numbers of Congressional Reps vote "No" it will be a significant indication to the White House that they cannot expand the war in Afghanistan indefinitely.
Carolyn Eisenberg,
for Historians Against the War
PS If you would like to receive more regular information on Congressional votes, please email: hiscze@aol.com.
