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rebeccagriffin commented on the diary post “Cut and run” redux: the Libya war debate by rebeccagriffin.
Thanks for reading. Hopefully now that the administration feels that its initial mission has been accomplished, we can start pushing for a transition away from military force and look at the nonmilitary options that are out there from here on out.
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rebeccagriffin wrote a new diary post: “Cut and run” redux: the Libya war debate
Crossposted on Groundswell. I think sincere, well-intentioned people can disagree about how the US should have responded to the situation in Libya, and I’m glad to see a civil discussion happening amongst people who are cautious about the use of US military force (see Juan Cole , Robert Naiman and Phyllis Bennis for a few). However, just about every conversation about [...]
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rebeccagriffin commented on the diary post Bullets vs. doughnuts: Bahrain, Yemen and the US response by rebeccagriffin.
Do you have any links you can offer to substantiate those claims? Everything I’ve heard from journalists and human rights workers on the ground contradicts them. Also, you can clearly see I’m not calling on anyone to bomb Bahrain or any of these other countries. I’m calling on the administration to use the leverage it [...]
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rebeccagriffin commented on the diary post Bullets vs. doughnuts: Bahrain, Yemen and the US response by rebeccagriffin.
Yes, that was a great segment on the Daily Show. The fearmongering and linking everything to Iran has so many policy consequences in the way the US deals with other countries. I heard an interview on NPR where Wes Clark was invoking the Iran in reference to Bahrain, and thankfully Anne Marie Slaughter pointed out [...]
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rebeccagriffin commented on the diary post Bullets vs. doughnuts: Bahrain, Yemen and the US response by rebeccagriffin.
Thanks! I know, it would be so much easier to exercise leverage with these people the US government has a relationship with, but the administration is being so cautious. I have seen a number of bloggers and some other media making the comparison with Libya and calling the subdued response into question, but we definitely [...]
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rebeccagriffin wrote a new diary post: Bullets vs. doughnuts: Bahrain, Yemen and the US response
Crossposted on Groundswell. The media and the public are understandably paying a lot of attention to the brutal repression of the rebellion in Libya and the US and allied response. However, while debate rages about the proper response to Qaddafi’s violent push against the rebels, the suffering civilians of Bahrain and Yemen, whose governments have a much [...]
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rebeccagriffin wrote a new diary post: Does Robert Gates Need His Head Examined?
Crossposted on Groundswell. The New York Times reports today that the US military has begun pulling back from the Pech Valley, an area they once considered crucial to their counterinsurgency strategy. At least 103 American soldiers have been killed in the area, and many more wounded. While the piece doesn’t include statistics on Afghan deaths and injuries, one can [...]
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rebeccagriffin wrote a new diary post: Psy Ops on Senators
Crossposted on Groundswell. Michael Hastings, the reporter famous for bringing down General McChrystal , is back in Rolling Stone with another explosive story. Hastings exposes “another runaway general” (there seem to be too many of these) who instructed soldiers in a “psychological operations” team to manipulate key visitors, including US senators, into supporting the war and sending more resources their way:
The [...]
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rebeccagriffin commented on the diary post Did Your Representative Vote to Cut Wasteful Military Spending? by rebeccagriffin.
You’re welcome! A lot of reps are a mixed bag when it comes to these votes. It’s interesting to see how some of them come down since often the weapons systems are less a partisan issue and more about what interests people have in their districts (one of the reasons companies like Lockheed Martin will [...]
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rebeccagriffin commented on the diary post Did Your Representative Vote to Cut Wasteful Military Spending? by rebeccagriffin.
Glad to hear it! I am lucky enough to be represented by Barbara Lee, so I’m in the same boat.
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rebeccagriffin wrote a new diary post: Did Your Representative Vote to Cut Wasteful Military Spending?
Crossposted on Groundswell. Last week, the House engaged in a budget free-for-all, debating hundreds of amendments on the continuing resolution that would fund the government through the end of the 2011 fiscal year. Republicans were set to impose draconian cuts on domestic programs—slashing to get to an arbitrary spending number rather than making decisions based on effectiveness [...]
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rebeccagriffin commented on the diary post Working for Peace in 2011: What We’re Hearing on the Hill by rebeccagriffin.
Thanks so much for your support. While it can be discouraging to see how little attention to the wars are getting, I have definitely seen a lot of progress over the last couple of years in moving more people to speak out for a better strategy in Afghanistan. The pace of progress can be frustrating, [...]
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rebeccagriffin commented on the diary post Working for Peace in 2011: What We’re Hearing on the Hill by rebeccagriffin.
Thanks! We will definitely keep the pressure on, with the help of people around the country calling and writing and birddogging.
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rebeccagriffin wrote a new diary post: Working for Peace in 2011: What We’re Hearing on the Hill
Our political team spent a couple of days last week making the rounds of key congressional offices to strategize, feel out the new political landscape, and push for action on ending the war in Afghanistan, taking further steps to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons, and building out the development and diplomatic tools we need to [...]
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rebeccagriffin commented on the diary post On Afghanistan, Americans aren’t buying what the administration is selling by rebeccagriffin.
I think you’re right that people have largely been isolated from the burden of war. However, we’ve already seen a big shift in public and congressional opinion since Obama took office, more quickly than I would have imagined given how the idea of Afghanistan as “the good war” was thoroughly ingrained. I don’t think ending [...]
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rebeccagriffin wrote a new diary post: On Afghanistan, Americans aren’t buying what the administration is selling
Few Afghanistan policy watchers anticipated any significant revelations in the Obama administration’s review of the war in Afghanistan. Administration officials repeatedly downplayed the review and directed National Security staff not to offer policy alternatives. As expected, the overview released to the public reiterates the president’s justifications for the war from his 2009 West Point speech and makes [...]
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rebeccagriffin commented on the diary post What Does this Election Mean for Peace? by rebeccagriffin.
There is a lot of good evidence out there that other government spending generates a lot more jobs than military spending. I think we need to be careful about feeding this situation where war is a profit-making enterprise because of the incentive we’re creating for continuing to militarize our culture and spend a disproportionate amount [...]
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rebeccagriffin commented on the diary post What Does this Election Mean for Peace? by rebeccagriffin.
Yes, we would certainly agree on a number of things, and have a big job ahead of us in making them happen.
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rebeccagriffin commented on the diary post What Does this Election Mean for Peace? by rebeccagriffin.
Yes, let’s hope they just stick to beating the drums- which is already counterproductive enough. I had a wonderful trip to Iran last year as part of a grassroots diplomacy delegation, and I want to do everything possible to make sure that the warm, smart and friendly people that I met aren’t dragged into another [...]
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rebeccagriffin wrote a new diary post: What Does this Election Mean for Peace?
Crossposted at Groundswell This past Tuesday was a rough election for many people, including supporters of a more peaceful foreign policy. While we know that there will be many more proponents of the war in Afghanistan and increased military spending in Congress, there are still a lot of questions about what specific challenges we face, and what [...]
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