Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Human Rights, Targeting Muslims, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of its Military Machine
From Afghanistan to Iraq and Syria and on to little known deployments in a range of countries worldwide, the United States has been at perpetual war for at least the past two decades. Yet many of these foreign wars remain off the radar of average Americans.
We speak today with author and political analyst Norman Solomon about his new book War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of its Military Machine.
Solomon writes that since the attacks on 9/11, more than 20 years ago, first in the war in Afghanistan, and then Iraq, a hugely consequential shift in (United States) American foreign-policy was set in motion: a perpetual state of war that is almost entirely invisible to the public. Solomon exposes how this happened and what the consequences are, for military and civilian casualties, and the draining of resources at home.
Compliant journalist add to the smokescreen by providing narrow coverage of military engagements, and by repeating the military’s talking points. Meanwhile, the increased use of high technology, air power, and remote drones has put distance between soldiers and the civilians killed in action. Back home, Solomon shows, the cloak of invisibility masks massive Pentagon budgets and receive bi-partisan support even as housing, medical care, education, and infrastructure goes abegging.
Guest – Norman Solomon is cofounder of RootsAction.org executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He’s written many books, but “ War Made Invisible“, is his first one in 15 years. Solomon founded the Institute for Public Accuracy in 1997 and is its executive director. Immersed in anti-war, social justice and environmental movements since the late 1960s, he is the author of a dozen books including “War Made Easy” and “Made Love, Got War.”
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Israel Attacks West Bank City of Jenin
On fourth of July, as we in the US heard fireworks, people in the Palestinian city of Jenin heard real gunfire and fled from real explosions. On July 3, a thousand Israeli Defense Force soldiers descended on the city, with helicopters, drones and bulldozers, to execute a two day bombardment that leveled the city, reduced its buildings to rubble, damaged hospitals, knocked out utilities, and left at least 13 people dead: 12 Palestinians and 1 Israeli soldier. At least 100 were wounded, and now thousands – about 80% of those living in the camp – are without shelter, water or electricity.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres immediately condemned Israel for using excessive force and harming civilians. He’s refused to retract his statement even under enormous pressure from Israel’s UN Ambassador, who called Mr. Guterres’ criticism, “shameful, far-fetched and completely detached from reality.”
A handful of Arab countries and a European Union envoy have also criticized Israel. But others… like the US? Well…. its silence speaks volumes.
Guest – Sandra Tamari is a Palestinian organizer and the Executive Director of Adalah Justice Project, a Palestinian advocacy organization that builds toward collective liberation through labor, cultural, and legislative campaigns. She holds a Master’s degree in Arab Studies from Georgetown University. In May 2012, she was jailed and denied entry into Palestine by Israel because of her work to encourage U.S. churches to divest from the occupation.
Hosted by attorneys Michael Smith and Maria Hall
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Human Rights, NSA Spying, Surveillance, Violations of U.S. and International Law, Whistleblowers
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Biden Hypocritically Slams Arrest of US Journalist in Russia But Pursues Assange
May 3rd marks the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, established by the UN to remind governments about the necessity to respect their commitment to freedom of the press.
The Biden administration touts press freedom but continues the Trump administration’s efforts to extradite Julian Assange from the UK to the United States for trial on Espionage Act charges that could lead to 175 years in prison. Assange is being prosecuted for obtaining and publishing classified military and diplomatic documents evidencing US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the first publisher to be charged under the Espionage Act for revealing state secrets.
The Biden administration hypocritically criticizes Russia for arresting Evan Gershkovich, a US journalist, for espionage while trying to extradite and try Assange, who is an Australian citizen. Both men are journalists detained in a foreign country on espionage charges for doing what journalists do.
Julian Assange Fact Sheet: Why Julian Must Be Freed
Guest – Marjorie Cohn is a member of the national advisory board of Assange Defense. She is professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and former president of the National Lawyers Guild. Her new article about Assange and Gershkovich was just published by Truthout.
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Citizen Spies: The Long Rise of America’s Surveillance Society
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s program “If You See Something, Say Something,” launched in 2010, urges citizens to be aware of and to report, potential threats. Examples of suspicious activity include unattended packages or baggage; circumstances that appear out of the ordinary, like an open door that is usually closed; a person asking for detailed information about a building’s layout or purpose, and changes in security protocol or shifts. Also of concern is any person seen loitering around a building, writing notes, sketches, and taking photographs or measurements.
The DHS website is careful to note that, “Factors such as race, ethnicity, and/or religious affiliation are not suspicious.” Yet as listeners know, incidents of ethnic profiling are many, including one in which a Southwest Airlines passenger was taken off a flight for speaking Arabic.
The history of citizen spying and reporting on others is not new in this country. And the “See Something” campaign isn’t the only civilian spying program around. Many jurisdictions have Neighborhood Watch programs. The U.S. Department of Justice’s National Neighborhood Watch initiative enlists community members to assist crime prevention and to prepare neighborhoods for disasters and emergency response.
Guest – Joshua Reeves author of Citizen Spies, The Long Rise of America’s Surveillance Society . He is associate professor of New Media Communications and Speech Communication at Oregon State University, where he’s also a fellow in their Center for the Humanities. An associate editor of the journal Surveillance and Society, he’s also written the just-released book, Killer Apps: War, Media, Machine.
Hosted by attorneys Heidi Boghosian, Marjorie Cohn and Julie Hurwitz
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Why Julian Assange Must be Freed
“Who am I? I fought for liberty and was deprived of all liberty. I fought for freedom of speech and was denied all speech. I fought for the truth and became the subject of a thousand lies.”
Who Is Julian Assange?
He is an award-winning Australian journalist and publisher who because of those activities is behind bars in a high-security prison in England awaiting a final decision on his extradition to the United States, a country whose jurisdiction he has never been under, but where he has been charged with espionage and faces a 175-year prison sentence.
Julian’s crime?
To have revealed war crimes, crimes against humanity, transgressions of governments—to have practiced journalism. Because of a revolutionary method he invented that allows whistleblowers such as Chelsea Manning to anonymously and securely send information to be published by WikiLeaks, truths have been revealed that have toppled governments, helped end wars, stopped illegal and inhumane practices.
Julian is paying dearly for this, and for his irrepressible courage. In April of 2019 he was illegally dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he had been granted asylum and transferred to an isolated cell in Belmarsh Prison, known as Britain’s Guantanamo. There, according to the United Nations, he has been subjected to the equivalent of physical and psychological torture. Julian suffered a mini stroke when he was only 49, and his health has been seriously deteriorating.
Julian has published 10 million documents detailing atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan, routine torture in Guantanamo, mass government surveillance, CIA crimes that are all available for free to billions of people around the world.
He has been supported by hundreds of thousands of parliamentarians, human rights authorities, medical doctors, religious leaders, artists, teachers, trade unionists, legal professionals, journalists, students, writers all over the world, who publicly demand his immediate release. This support is growing every day as more and more people see the immense value of Julian’s work, and the crucial need for him to continue.
Why the world needs Julian?
“I am unbroken, albeit literally surrounded by murderers, but the days when I could read and speak and organize to defend myself, my ideals, and my people are over until I am free! Everyone else must take my place.”
Were it not for the Collateral Murder video, people would not have seen the assassination of civilians, including two journalists, in cold blood from a U.S. helicopter in Baghdad, a powerful, graphic example of the true extent of US war crimes.
In incriminating Julian, the message is that it is the messenger who speaks the truth who is to be punished whilst the real criminals, those who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, enjoy impunity.
We have learned so much from Julian about how governments, politicians, corporations, the military, and the press truly operate that if he were still publishing, some of the insanity of today’s world might have been avoided.
If Julian can be imprisoned in a country where he has committed no crime but for revealing truths that are “uncomfortable” to the U.S., then anyone can be snatched anywhere by the U.S. and imprisoned for doing the same.
Julian is being set up as an example to other journalists and publishers and the whistleblowers who provide them with essential information—publish (the truth) and perish.
Analytic and prophetic, Julian is an indefatigable fighter for justice, peace, freedom of expression, accountability—with his brilliant voice having been silenced, we are deprived of a leading advocate for these essential ideals.
Julian created the “rebel library of Alexandria,” the more than 10 million WikiLeaks documents that include the Afghan War Diary, the Iraq War Logs, Cablegate, the Guantanamo Files, the Spy Files, and Vault 7, that are an invaluable resource for journalists, historians, scholars, human rights activists, governments, individuals.
Julian has received many prestigious journalism and other awards and has been nominated 9 times for the Nobel Peace Prize, yet the media completely ignore him—his situation, his contributions, his importance—or lie about it.
If Julian can be imprisoned for having gathered and published revelations provided by whistleblowers, then journalists and editors from, for example, Le Monde, the New York Times, die Welt, who also published those documents, can also be, essentially denying freedom of expression.
How Julian is being denied his legal and human rights?
The United States and Britain plotted to kidnap Julian when he was in the Ecuadorian embassy, even to assassinate him, so their “assurances” that he will be treated fairly in a U.S. courtroom or supermax prison aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.
Gross injustices have subverted Julian’s legal case—discussions with his lawyers were recorded, confidential information from his lawyers’ phones and laptops was stolen, Julian’s own papers that would have enabled him to prepare for his court appearances were confiscated, during the hearings he was separated from his lawyers, making it impossible to communicate with them.
Julian is a political prisoner who is being persecuted for being a truth-teller, and will never have a fair trial, whether in Britain or the U.S.
The charges against Julian are based on lies—that he collaborated with Russia to give the election to Donald Trump, that he hacked into classified documents, that he endangered lives.
The principal evidence against Julian was supplied by a diagnosed sociopath who subsequently withdrew his accusations, saying he had been bribed by the U.S.
How you can support Julian?
“People often ask, ‘What can I do?’ The answer is not so difficult. Learn how the world works. Challenge the statements, actions, and intentions of those who seek to control us behind the facades of democracy and monarchy. Unite in common purpose and common principle to design, build, document, finance, and defend. Learn. Challenge. Act. Now.”
Join groups that support Julian
Follow their sites, blogs, statements, tweets
Participate in actions they organize
Pass on the information that they transmit
Assangedefense.org
Become informed through reading books about Julian
Guilty of Journalism—The Political Case Against Julian Assange, by Kevin Gosztola, The Censored Press, Seven Stories Press
In Defense of Julian Assange, edited by Tariq Ali and Margaret Kunstler, OR Books
Julian Assange in His Own Words, Edited by Karen Sharpe, OR Books
Secret Power: WikiLeaks and its Enemies, by Stefania Maurizi, Pluto Press
The Trial of Julian Assange—A Story of Persecution, by Nils Melzer, with Oliver Kobold, Verso
A Century of Repression-The Espionage Act and Freedom of The Press by Ralph Engelman and Carey Shenkman, University of Illinois Press
In French:
Julian Assange et WikiLeaks—Le combat du siècle pour la liberté d’informer, édition établie par Olivier Azam et Laurent Dauré, Les Mutins de Pangée
Julian Assange parle, by Karen Sharpe, Investig’Action
Proclaim loudly at every opportunity that Julian must be freed
Write to your government representatives
Write to your local news sources
CIA Sponsored Terror, Civil Liberties, Surveillance, Violations of U.S. and International Law, Whistleblowers
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Project Blueprint: Haiti
Haiti is a nation in crisis, spiraling out of control since last year’s assassination of its president, Jovenet Moise. The government has cratered, and 200 violent gangs have seized control. There’s no fuel, and food and water are hard to come by. Businesses and schools are shuttered and hospitals, banks, and grocery stores teeter on the brink of closure. Clean water is scarce, and Haiti faces another cholera outbreak. An estimated one million people are starving in the middle of Haiti’s biggest city. Kidnappings, human trafficking, homicides and sexual and gender-based violence are rampant.
Last week, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution demanding an immediate end to violence and criminal activity in Haiti. It calls for sanctions on groups and individuals threatening peace and stability in the impoverished nation. The sanctions resolution implicated Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, whose gang has blockaded a central fuel terminal. Cherizier is a former police officer leading a group of gangs known as the G9 Family and Allies. He now faces asset freeze, an arms embargo and a travel ban.
Institute For Justice and Democracy In Haiti
Guest – Human rights attorney Brian Concannon, Executive Director of Project Blueprint, and the founder and former Executive Director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. Brian has been qualified as an expert witness on conditions in the country of Haiti in more than 40 cases in courts both in the United States and Canada.
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A Century of Repression: The Espionage Act and Freedom of the Press
For more than a century, the 1917 Espionage Act has been used by the United States government to target critics of its foreign and military policy. From suppressing criticism of U.S. participation in World War I to present-day attempts to silence whistleblowers, political dissidents and journalists who expose our nation’s war crimes, the Espionage Act is a dangerous weapon in the federal government’s legal arsenal. It has been employed to limit freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of information.
In their new book, A Century of Repression: The Espionage Act and Freedom of the Press, Ralph Engelman and Carey Shenkman trace the use of the Espionage Act against Eugene Debs, Daniel Ellsberg, Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange, among others. During World Wars I and II, the Act was primarily directed at political opposition to government policies. During the Cold War, it was used to criminalize leaks, manipulate the flow of information, and mold public opinion. And during the “War on Terror,” the Act has been used as a means to combat digital disclosure and journalism.
Journalist Julian Assange, founder and publisher of WikiLeaks, is currently locked up in a maximum security prison in London while the Biden administration attempts to have him extradited to the United States to stand trial on Espionage Act charges that could result in 175 years in prison. The basis for the indictment against him is WikiLeaks’ revelation of U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Guest – Carey Shenkman is a constitutional lawyer and litigator focusing on freedom of expression, transparency and technology. He serves on the panel of experts at Columbia University’s Global Freedom of Expression Program, and consults on media rights issues before the United Nations and around the world.
Hosted by Attorneys Heidi Boghosian, Marjorie Cohn and Julie Hurwitz
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Criminalizing Dissent, Human Rights, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister, Whistleblowers
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Mass Rally Mumia, Assange and Palestine in Berkeley, California September 17, 2022
Veteran socialist and organizer Jeff Mackler initiated a call for a mass rally on September 17, 2022 in Berkeley, California in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Julian Assange, and Palestinians. In 1982 radio journalist and Black Panther Mumia Abu -Jamal was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death for murdering police officer Daniel Faulkner on a Philadelphia Street. He served 28 1/2 years on death row before his sentence was reduced to life in prison. Still in prison, he has served 40 years. An International movement has developed demanding “Free Mumia.”
Award winning Australian journalist and publisher Julian Assange sits in Belmarsh. a maximum security prison in London. In declining mental and physical health,he has been incarcerated for over 1000 days while he awaits extradition to the Northern District federal court in Virginia where he will be tried and certainly convicted of violating the espionage act of 1917. His crime: embarrassing United States by publishing true information about US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and spying on the American public.
The Gaza Strip imprisons 1 million Palestinians. It is largest open air prison in the world. A month ago the Israeli military killed 49 people, 17 of them children, in military attacks. The weapons were made and supplied by America. North of the Gaza Strip in June in the Israeli militarily occupied territory of the West Bank an Israeli sniper assassinated the beloved veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh who was covering an Israeli army incursion. She had been reporting on the situation of Palestinians In the West Bank for many years.
American ideology has it that our country is a force for good in the world. That it is a democratic society, that it promotes freedom and democracy abroad, and that at home it is a place where hard work leads to success. But the truth is quite different. These myths are increasingly being exposed for what they are.
Recognizing that free journalism is at stake a diverse group of organizations are sponsoring the September 17th mass rally In Berkeley. Mumia will speak via phone. Vincent de Stefano of the Assange Defense Committee will speak. So will Daniel Ellsberg, famous for his release of the Pentagon papers, Susan Schnall, President of Vets for Peace, Mama Pam of Friends of Mumia’s International Family, the great journalist Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice walker, and Jeff Mackler among others.
The slogan of the rally is Free Mumia! Free Julian! Free Palestine!
Guest – Jeff Mackler is a founder and leader of the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), hey founder of the Northern California Climate Mobilization, and the national secretary of Socialist Action and it’s two time candidate for the US presidency.
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Analysis: The Taiwan-US Relationship And China
Trips to Taiwan, by Congressional leaders like Nancy Pelosi, followed up by trips to Taiwan by other members of Congress, has served to push the United States and China closer to a catastrophic conflict. Richard Becker, our guest for this topic today has written, “Pelosi’s decision raises the specter of all-out war between the two world powers. and the consequences of her actions remain to be seen.”
The Biden Administration, which obviously approved of Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, added fuel to the fire by deploying an aircraft carrier off the coast of Taiwan along with accompanying warships.
Pelosi’s argument that the U.S.-Taiwan relationship was based on a shared belief in “self-determination and self-government, democracy and freedom” is ridiculous. The U.S. and other colonial efforts to dismember Taiwan from the rest of China goes back to at least the 19th century. And at the end of World War Two, the U.S. government supported the Nationalist Party of dictator Chiang Kai-Shek in the civil war between his party and the ruling communist party of China; a war that Chiang lost. After Chiang lost that civil war he retreated to the Chinese island of Taiwan, where he ruled as a vicious dictator. Of course, he continued to receive with massive military and diplomatic support from the United States. And even after it was forced to abandon its absurd policy that Taiwan represented the legitimate government of China, the U.S. has maintained its de facto alliance with the regime in Taiwan. And China, which still claims Taiwan as a part of China, has not ruled out eventually bringing Taiwan back under mainland China’s governance, including with the use of force if need be.
Guest – Richard Becker a leader in the Party for Socialism and Liberation. He’s also the Western Regional Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition, the coalition to end war and end racism; and Mr. Becker is the author of a number of books, including, Storming the Gates: How the Russian Revolution Changed the World, the book, Palestine: Israel and the U.S. Empire; and the book, The Myth of Democracy and the Rule of the Banks.
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