Click here to view the embedded video.

The event is sponsored by Healthcare-NOW, Physicians for a National Healthcare Program, National Nurses Organizing Committee, Nashville Peace and Justice Center, Nashville Peace Coalition, Green Party of Middle Tennessee, & others.

For information contact Warren Duzak, 292-5608

Health, Money, & Fear

Produced by an emergency physician (Paul Hochfeld), “Health, Money and Fear” answers three questions about our broken health care non-system. Why does is cost so much? What does it say about us? What can we do about it? While Congress is more focused on the symptom, lack of Universal Coverage, they are ignoring the underlying problem.

COST! Unless they address the perverse incentives that drive up cost, the “reform” we are going to get will be more government subsidies so the insurance industry can continue to thrive being central to a dysfunctional health care system that is better at producing profits than health.

The elements of the solution must address the elements of the problem: technology, the fear of liability, mass marketing of prescription drugs, the profit motive, chaos in medical records, unrealistic expectatiions, and the multitude of insurance companies that add substantially to cost without contributing anything to health.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Car-a-Van route

Meet the doctors

The Nashville Peace Coalition

Nashville – The Nashville Peace Coalition invites the public to attend a panel discussion on current issues affecting Latin America.  The panel, titled, “Latin America Unchained” is an examination of the current left leaning shift of popular elections in Latin America.  Whether Americans are pondering the meaning of Hugo Chavez shaking hands with Barack Obama or the recent electoral victory of the FMLN in El Salvador, we can be sure that Latin America is changing. In the interest of providing the public with an opportunity to hear from local experts on the current trends in Latin America, the Nashville Peace Coalition has assembled a diverse panel to talk about current events. The Nashville Peace Coalition is a project of the Nashville Peace and Justice Center and is dedicated to promoting a peace and diplomacy as key aspects of US foreign policy.

The Bolivarian revolution, the economic collapse of Argentina, the election of Lula in Brazil and the persistent anti-imperialist rhetoric from the Hugo Chavez administration of Venezuela are hints that Latin America has tended to the left in recent years.  What is going on in Latin America and what role does US foreign policy play in this historical trend?  What effect has the North American Free Trade Agreement, the US Army’s School of the Americas and Plan Columbia played in shaping and influencing Latin America’s current governments?  “Latin America Unchained” intends to address some of these questions and engage in a community discussion  with the help of a panel of journalists, educators and community organizers to have a community discussion about the recent trends in Latin America.

Chairing the panel will be Lesley Gill, Vanderbilt faculty and author of the book, “School of the Americas: Military Training and Political Violence.”  Participants on the panel include Camilo Garcia who is an exiled Columbian journalist who works for the Spanish language newspaper “Latino”  and Karl Meyer, a Nashville peace activist who has spent six months in federal prison for protesting the School of the Americas, a military training facility in Columbus, Georgia.  Additionally the panel will include Joey King, a former army ranger and member of Veterans for Peace who recently returned from El Salvador as an election observer  and Juan Canedo, a community organizer with the Progreso Community Center and a native of Bolivia.

The event, which is being held at the Progreso Community Center at 478 Allied Drive off of Nolensville Road in South Nashville, will begin at 2pm.  Panelists will be given fifteen minutes each to address their area of specialty and then the lecture will be opened up to the general public for discussion and questions.  The event will conclude at 4pm.  Organizers of the panel hope to give the general public a better sense of what is happening in Latin America and what role US foreign and economic policy should play in current developments with our southern neighbors.

For more information please contact Chris Lugo of the Nashville Peace Coalition at or 593-0304

Event Info

The Nashville Peace Coalition is calling for peace in Afghanistan & Iraq on the sixth anniversary of the occupation of Iraq with a street protest and peace concert in Centennial Park on Saturday, March 14th beginning at Noon.  The theme of the event titled, “Now is the Time for Peace” is intended as an appeal to President Obama and the Democratic House and Senate to withdraw all troops from Iraq including non-combat troops and reverse the recently announced troop surge in Afghanistan. 

In February, President Obama announced a troop surge of 17,000 troops to Afghanistan.  In response, the Peace Coalition organized legislative visits to Federal representatives in Nashville to urge them to press the current administration to withdraw combat troops from Afghanistan, citing no clear mission for the troops and the extreme costs of continued occupation during a time of economic crisis. The street protest on March 14th will begin at noon on West End Avenue in front of Centennial Park and will feature street theater and the Code Pink dancers performing the “Yes We Can Can Get Out of Afghanistan” dance and protest.

In addition to the street protest, the Nashville Peace Coalition will also be organizing a peace concert with speakers and music to begin at 1pm on Saturday March 14th at the Centennial Park bandshell.  The peace concert, which is meant to commemorate the six year anniversary of the occupation of Iraq, will feature Sonnye Dixon of the Hobson United Methodist Church and NAACP of Nashville speaking on the theme of peace.  The concert and rally will also feature the Shelby Bottoms String Band, Mike Muldoon, Ross Falzone, Randall Venson and Ngawang Losell among other speakers and performers.  The event will finish with a performance from the Farm band Night Train from Summertown, Tennessee.

The emcee’s of the peace concert will be Bill Humble, a member of Veterans for Peace and 27 year veteran of the Navy who is calling for peace in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Elizabeth Barger, a community organizer for Peace Roots Alliance in Summertown, Tennessee and regional coordinator for CodePink Women for Peace.

March 19th marks the actual anniversary of the beginning of the Iraqi War and although the Peace Coalition does acknowledge the announced withdrawal of 70,000 combat troops from Iraq under the current administration, they call for a complete withdrawal of all troops from Iraq including the 50,000 who will remain after the announced drawdown and a closing of all military bases in Iraq.

In addition the Peace Coalition calls for a withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan. The Nashville Peace Coalition is a project of the Nashville Peace and Justice Center which will have a table at the event.  Also tabling at the event will be a group advocating peace in Palestine and an end to the occupation of that country, as well as members of the Firebrand Community Center, a local anarchist performance space and infoshop, and members of Veterans for Peace, Vanderbilt Students for Nonviolence, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Cumberland Greens, Eric Schecter for Congress, Tennessee Alliance for Progress, Peace Roots Alliance, Clarksville Freethinkers and the Nashville Greenlands.

Across the nation millions of people will be participating in peace rallies and demonstrations during the week of March 14th – 21st to mark the sixth anniversary of the occupation of Iraq.  On March 21st tens of thousands of peace activists will converge in Washington DC for a march on the Pentagon organized by national anti-war protest organizations including ANSWER and the Declaration of Peace.

In a release to the media on March 1st, ANSWER called for widespread demonstrations on the anniversary of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying that:

“The Iraq and Afghanistan war will drag on for years unless we act now. The cost in lives and resources is criminal regardless of whether the Democrats or Republicans are in charge of the government. The Pentagon has employed 200,000 foreign contractors (mercenaries) and 150,000 U.S. troops to maintain the occupation of Iraq. They have no right to be there. A few thousand are being brought out of Iraq only to be redeployed to occupy Afghanistan. The people of the United States want change. We are sick and tired of wars of aggression waged abroad under false slogans of “national security.” The occupation of Iraq alone costs $12 billion each month. This amounts to $400 million each day, $16.7 million per hour and $278,000 per minute.”

For more information please contact:

Chris Lugo 615-593-0304  or by e-mail at
Elizabeth Barger 931-964-2119  or by e-mail at

Hutchinson is the executive director of Stop the Bombs, a twenty-yearoold organization in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which has organized a continuous presence outside of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant calling for a complete shutdown of the nuclear facilities and thorough environmental clean up of the Oak Ridge bomb plant.  His presentation will be given on the grounds of the Nashville Peace and Justice Center at 4732 W. Longdale Drive.  The public is invited to attend this event beginning at 6pm. 

History of Oak Ridge

The Y12 Plant in Oak Ridge is building nuclear weapons. Specifically, Y12 is manufacturing thermonuclear secondaries for the W76 warhead—the secondary is the highly explosive part that turns an atomic bomb into a thermonuclear bomb. Y12 is the only place in the United States that makes them. Under the “Life Extension” program, Y12 is producing new bomb secondaries that will effectively make the W76-1 the first new nuclear weapon built in the United States in 20 years.

The Department of Energy has announced plans to build a new, $3 billion bomb plant at Y12 that will produce nuclear weapons for another century; a Draft Environmental Impact Statement is due to be released in April 2009 with a public hearing to follow. President Obama has embraced the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons, but he also believes in a safe, secure, reliable stockpile and a policy of nuclear deterrence. These two visions are irreconcilable.

Hutchinson says that the action at Oak Ridge on April 4th send a message, “The Change we voted for includes nuclear disarmament. The $40 billion spent every year on the US nuclear arsenal can be better spent on health care, renewable energy, housing, education, and job creation.”

Preparing for Peace Now

In 2010, the world will gather at the United Nations to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, ratified by the United States in 1968. In the NPT, countries that had no nuclear weapons promised not to build them, and nuclear weapons states promised to disarm “at an early date.” If the United States does not demonstrate a serious commitment to achieving disarmament by 2010, the NPT is expected to collapse, opening the door for the widespread proliferation of nuclear weapons. The critical moment is now to build citizen pressure for the United States to keep its word and to move decisively toward disarmament.

Events Leading Up to Peace Rally

• Puppet build | March 30 – April 3 in Knoxville. If you’ve ever wanted to be part of street theatre, creating giant art, or just want to help, the Puppet Build is a great place to start. Novices and veterans welcome. Come for all or part; camping space available and the community provides food. Call 865 609 2012 or email for details.
• Peace Pilgrimage | March 30 – April 4, Nipponzan Myohoji will lead the 11th annual peace pilgrimage from the Peace Pagoda in Cocke County to Oak Ridge. All are welcome to walk for part or all of the pilgrimage. Contact: Sr. Denise Laffan, 404 627 8948 or atlantadojo@ yahoo.com.
• Nonviolence training | Friday, April 3 at Church of the Savior, 934 N Weisgarber Rd in Knoxville. 1:00 – 5:00. A basic primer in nonviolence in preparation for Saturday’s action; everyone is welcome. Persons who might be considering an act of civil resistance are urged to attend. Contact 865 776 5050 or
• Concert for Disarmament | Saturday, April 4, Alvin K. Bissell Park [intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge]. Music, theatre, tabling, great community. Starts 12:30pm and concludes with March to Y12.

View of Oak Ridge from www.fas.org

• March for Peace | Stepping off around 3:00, the peace march moves us from Bissell Park to the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Plant, about 1 3/4 miles; mostly on sidewalk, but the last stretch is on the shoulder. Accompanied by Peacekeepers and police; safe and fun for families. Bring your sign!
• Action at the Y12 Plant | Intersection of Bear Creek and Scarboro Road in Oak Ridge. We gather at the entrance to the bomb plant. The Action is family friendly, nonviolent, but direct. There is no risk of arrest unless you intentionally participate in a direct action scenario. Action begins when we arrive from the March and tends to last an hour or less. Contact: 865 776 5050 or .

Ralph Hutchinson on Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty & Oak Ridge
Wednesday, February 4th at 6pm
Nashville Peace & Justice Center
4732 W Longdale
Nashville, TN

For More Information Contact: Ralph Hutchinson 865 776 5050 or

Contact for Nashville Event:  Chris Lugo  at  615 593 0304 or

“Thanks so much for your support this campaign season. Thanks to your efforts I was able to gather 9,067 votes for peace in the US Senate race. When I began in October of 2007 I did not realize how many friends I would make on the trail and how many people in Tennessee are in support of peace and real human priorities for Tennessee.” ~~ Chris Lugo

Lugo began his campaign last year in Jonesborough, Tennessee, “where hundreds of us gathered to call for an end to the production of depleted uranium weapons at the Aerojet facility in Irwin.” Lugo learned about the role that Aerojet plays in the production of depleted uranium and “how it has caused long- term health problems for our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Lugo criss-crossed Tennessee, traveling to Oak Ridge for the Stop the Bombs annual action to call for an end to the re-manufacturing of nuclear bombs and for the Department of Energy Hearings, where people spoke out in support of putting hundreds of people to work cleaning up the toxic legacy of sixty years of DOE activity in the area. He closed out the year at a conference sponsored by S.E.A.C. at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro on nuclear issues in this state, where foreign countries ship waste into Tennessee to incinerate, landfill and put into permanent temporary storage facilities.

Among his supporters were Democracy for East Tennessee and the Knoxville Greens, students at Heritage High School in Maryville, Tennessee, and Kevin Rowland. Lugo recognized the work people are doing in East Tennessee to promote peace and support a progressive agenda, especially members of the GLBT community.

Lugo acknowledged  the Nashville Peace and Justice Center and the Nashville Movement, movements that did not endorse him and they did not take a position on any candidate because of their non-profit status.

“Thanks also to the folks at Clarksville Online and the activists in the Clarksville area where almost ten percent of all troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan are stationed or shipped through, and their long struggle and transformation from Clarksville Freethinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties into their work with Clarksville Online and the Unitarian Church and their collective struggles for peace in the heart of a military town.” ~~ Chris Lugo

Lugo recognized the work that the Cumberland County Center for Peace and Justice are doing with communities in the plateau region around Monteagle, Sewanee, Tracy City and points beyond as well as the Farm in Summertown, Tennessee, and the efforts of the Peace Roots Alliance and their work, especially Liz Barger, Alan Graf, Judy Meeker and Albert Bates.

“I have seen a shift in Tennessee. In 2006 I think that there was much less tolerance for the message of peace and the environment. People seem to be more tolerant and more interested in the message. I think that perhaps this is the beginning of a real shift. I think it will be a long time coming, and perhaps it won’t come at all, but I definitely noticed a change. Everyone in Tennessee seemed to be more open minded, more willing to hear differing perspectives this year, more willing to consider alternatives.” ~~ Chris Lugo

Thanks to the Tennessee Alliance for Progress for all the work they are doing to promote a common message in Tennessee and Radio Free Nashville for promoting democracy on the airwaves. Thanks to Middle Tennessee Students for a Democratic Society for all their fantastic work.

But I would especially like to thank the Nashville Peace Coalition for all of their support and fantastic work for peace this year, especially organizing the fifth anniversary peace rally and the alternative presidential debate. It was so exciting meeting eight presidential candidates this year and having six of them attend our alternative debate. I can’t believe how much work everyone I have met across the state of Tennessee is doing on peace, the environment and other areas of social justice.

Now is the time to push the incoming administration to bring the troops home and it is the time to push hard. Maybe they will give us what we have been working for six years to end, or maybe they won’t. The jury is out. But I will leave you with this letter to consider for our President Elect.

Lugo urged people across the state to consider writing to President-Elect Obama;  Here is the text of that letter:

Dear President Elect Obama,

We are deeply moved to address you as our nation’s first African-American president and, we proudly note, the first president whose campaign began with a pledge to an anti-war rally. Your courageous speech in October 2002, provided the rationale momentum that led to victory in Iowa and other Democratic primaries, and we still applaud you for that stand.

We write amidst this exciting week to urge your immediate attention and opposition to the so-called Status of Forces Agreement on Iraq being prepared in secret negotiations by the outgoing Bush Administration. The current United Nations authorization ends December 31st, making it imperative that you take leadership even before being sworn in.

The proposed agreement is a transparent attempt to circumvent Congress and formally bind your Administration to a war and occupation that far exceeds your stated commitment to a 16 month withdrawal of our combat troops. As your own website specifically states, any agreement should include a commitment to begin withdrawing our troops and avoiding any permanent bases. We also believe that thousands of Iraqi detainees should be treated according to human rights norms, or released in the absence of charges or evidence. You also have committed to a role for Congress in affirming any agreement.

Already the Bush administration and Pentagon are threatening “consequences” if the Iraqi parliament fails to endorse this pact.

We believe instead that you should signal your intention to abide by your pledge and work with the Congress immediately to formulate an agreement consistent with your pledge to end this war as rapidly as possible. We propose that you include the withdrawal of all American forces, including trainers and advisers caught in a sectarian crossfire, as recommended by all peace and justice organizations as well as such Washington think tanks as the Center for American Progress.

In place of this counterinsurgency war. we recommend an immediate diplomatic surge, including talks with Iran, as the only alternative to the continuing quagmire in Iraq which now costs our taxpayers some ten billion dollars per month, puts lives needlessly at risk, and stains our national honor.

We realize you will be hearing from all sorts of advocates for prolonging the occupation by one means or another. We urge you to keep the faith with the voices of those who put you on the road to the presidency, by implementing your pledge to end the war in 2009.

SDS: "Youth are not Cannon fodder"

As a global audience tuned in on the second presidential debate, held at Belmont University in Nashville, all the action was happening on the streets surrounding the campus. Political commentators and pundits agreed that the town hall debate format simply didn’t work, that the hoped for verbal battles failed to detonate any real excitement. Outside, it was another story.

I opted out of specific local debate coverage, and with CO writer Debbie Boen instead headed to Nashville to make our own voices heard. Debbie, founder of the FreeThinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties, and I (a devout member) headed for 21st and Blakemore, two blocks from the Debate Hall, center of the Nashville Peace Coalition et al rally and press conference. The Coalition the night before sponsored “an alternative debate” featuring the other candidates in the running for the US presidency. The ones without the political machine and the super-sized budgets.

Nearing Nashville on I-24 we were greeted with traffic signs directing debate trackers to the proper exits, so naturally, we made a wrong turn, got slightly misdirected and ended up exactly where we needed to be. Serendipity can be wonderful.

As we navigated Nashville, we were amazed at the sheer volume of Obama and issue-oriented activism; the streets were overflowing with energized people, male, female, old, young, diverse economic backgrounds. All motivated and more than ready to have their voices heard. At 4 p.m., the streets had already been layered with activists for hours. At 5 p.m., the press conference and public statements that had lured us to Nashville began.

“We have seen what Nashville looks like during a small gas crisis — tempers flaring, people irate — long lines. What would happen if it lasted a week? A month? A year? If the power shut down? How about if the food ran out in the grocery stores? If nobody removed your trash? How would people react? We’ve seen a taste of things to come in New Orleans? Welcome to the next Miramax movie.”

Then cam a quoted from a 9.8.08 Army Times article, barely a blip on the media radar, that reported:

“The 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat team that has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping to restore essential services and escorting supply convoys has now been ordered to come home and be under the command of the US Army North, an on-call federal response force for natural disasters or manmade emergencies including terrorist attacks.

“The 1st BCT’s soldiers will learn how to use ‘the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded’” states 1st BCT Commander Col. Roger Cloutier — referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and non lethal weapon designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.”

As this voice boomed through the crowd and across Nashville streets, listeners were reminded of  how these weapons were used most recently at protests during the Republican national Convention. Pepper spray, tazers, assault weapons and sound grenades used by police in tandem with federal officials and task force. The result? Dissenting opinions were silenced. News commentator Amy Goodman and her news crew were arrested.

“Iraq is the practice grounds for what is coming to America.” That statement summed up part one of this presentation.

One perspective on the Iraq War...

When I took the microphone, I recounted my feelings at seeing a fairly recent film, Across the Universe, which is one of the better anti-war films I’ve seen. Advertising as “the new Beatles music movie,” it begins with the Camelot/Kennedy era innocence, until the scene, circa 1965 or so — frames two soldiers speaking to a mother who crumples to the stoop, having learned her son was killed in Vietnam. Scene shift: young women in little black dresses, white gloves, pearls, standard mourning garb.  I had that dress, those pearls, the pristine gloves. In 1965. ‘66. ‘67. ‘68. ‘69. And ‘70. More than once in some years. I protested the war then. Same peace symbol. Same songs. Same handmade signs. I watched this film with a sinking feeling of memory in my gut, a “deja vu” across the decades to now.

New recruits carry Lady Liberty across napalm'd fields of Vietnam in "Across the Universe"

I told my listeners how I grew up outside a major northeastern Air Force Base. Years later I became complacent, and moved through midlife and yes, through that earlier Gulf War, taking care of family, work, and all the mundane things.

“When I moved to Tennessee in 2004, I found myself outside another major military base, with another war raging, and suddenly the same symbols, signs, songs and outrage surged. I never thought I’d be doing this again. Not at 58. Forty years, and apparently we haven’t learned too much. This time, though, we’ve added economic disaster to the mix.”

Members of the SDS speak out against war

I watched as the new incarnation of the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society – and yes, there is an SDS group at APSU too) stepped up to the microphone, calling for young voters to be a “catalyst for change.”  Joey King of Veterans for Peace spoke, followed by Liz Barger of the Code Pink ladies. Senate Candidate Chris Lugo. Eric Schechter. Brian Moore, Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. Roger Clark of the Nader/Gonzalez presidential ticket. Green Party Senate candidate John Migllietta.

‘Debate Ralph Nader’ signs were everywhere. As were “Christians for Planned Parenthood.” And “‘Forecloz’ Wall Street.”

The song “I Miss America” was sung to the melody of God Bless America, substituting civil liberties losses among other losses American citizens have endured.

The line may have seemed thin at times, but it was "never-ending"...

Across the street, a steady line of Obama supporters marched toward Debate Central. A French documentary filmmaker filmed and interviewed our group, among others. The C-Span, CNN and NEA buses passed by, the latter scrolling statements of what Iraq war funding could buy for Americans on the home front. The NEA bus was, for me, the “best of show.” Police presence was everywhere, but thankfully not in an aggressive stance. We haven’t apparently reached a  point requiring RNC response tactics — yet.

Cars passing by waved, honked their horns, gave the “V” for victory sign. The rain held off. The crowds remained steady, heavy and true.

As Debbie and I left Nashville, the streets were still alive with people carrying signs and banners, with the dozens and dozens of young Green Power group toting pristine white windmills from their designated protest site through downtown.

What was refreshing was the eclectic of mix of people, and more importantly, the energized young people blasted out of complacency by war and economics to take action and stand up to have their voices heard. In them, I saw pieces of myself from forty years ago. It was an honor to share the streets of Nashville not just with those who have done this before, but with those who are finding their political voice for the first time.

The lackluster debate may have meandered over old territory, but it was a brave new world beyond that forum.

All Photos by Debbie Boen. “Across the Universe” frame from Revolution Studios/Sony Pictures.

[Show as slideshow]

The Nashville Peace Coalition has issued the call for a demonstration in Nashville on Saturday, August 2nd to call for international diplomacy and peaceful dialogue instead of blockades and threats of bombing Iran. The demonstration is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and to last one and a half hours. It will take place at the intersection of 5th & Broadway in downtown Nashville.

The Peace Coalition is taking part in a national day of action to stop the potential war on Iran, which includes a massive demonstration in New York City and dozens of similar actions across the country on that day.

Statement from the Nashville Peace Coalition on why we are demonstrating:

It is with grave concern that we observe the growing threat of a new U.S. war–this time against the people of Iran. The media is filled with reports of an alleged nuclear threat posed by Iran and the assumed need for the U.S. to take military action. These reports recall the “Weapons of Mass Destruction” stories issued in the months leading up to the war on Iraq.

In the lead up to the illegal invasion of Iraq, the Bush Administration asserted that Iraq possessed massive stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction and that it was capable of launching an attack – nuclear, chemical and biological – on the U.S. within 45 minutes.

President Bush said that the U.S. had to attack immediately, and could not “wait for the final proof — the smoking gun — that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.” We all know now that this propaganda campaign was a complet fabrication created to justify a war of aggression.

Now we see reports that are all too similar being made to justify military action against the people of Iran. Taking Iran to the UN Security Council is a prelude for unilateral action. Just as in the case of Iraq, none of the claims made by the U.S. government stand up to unbiased scrutiny. Iran has submitted to the most intrusive and humiliating inspections, above and beyond what is required by Nuclear Weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). None of the inspections have found any evidence that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons program.

There is only one government that has used nuclear weapons against civilian populations, and that same nation has the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction on the planet. Most dangerous and incredible it is at this very moment developing a new generation of tactical nuclear weapons that it intends to use, not merely to threaten. That country is, of course, the United States. Shouldn’t any real discussion of the dangers of nuclear weapons include the weapons stockpiled by the Pentagon and the history of U.S. aggression and interventions?

Iran has suffered greatly at the hands of the U.S. We recall the U.S. overthrew the democratically elected government of Dr. M. Mossadegh and returned the Shah to the Peacock Throne – ‘the proudest achievement of the CIA’. For 25 years the Shah ruled Iran with an iron fist for the benefit of U.S. oil corporations before the people of Iran, in the millions, overthrew his tyranny at a terrible cost in lives. For the past 27 years U.S. sanctions have impeded Iran’s right to development and brought great suffering to the people.

It is essential that all voices opposed to the devastation of a new war in the Middle East speak out now. We urge an immediate end to Washington’s campaign of sanctions, hostility, and falsehood against the people of Iran. We oppose any new U.S. aggression against Iran. We need funds for human needs, not endless war for empire.

On March 15, 2008, the sacrifices of those affected by the conflict in Iraq during the past five years will be honored. Support and sympathy will be expressed for the members of the U.S. armed forces, their families and the people of Iraq.

Citizens will gather at noon Saturday, March 15 at the Amphitheater at the Bicentennial Mall at 600 James Robertson Parkway in downtown Nashville. There will be speakers – most of them veterans and their families, and music – all expressing hope for peace in the future. The program will end on an upbeat note, with a performance by the men’s choral group “Nashville in Harmony”.

At 3PM, veterans, military family members and others will carry a large canvas, bearing the names of Tennesseans killed in Iraq, up the hill to the War Memorial Plaza. The 93 names will be symbolically added to the names of those Tennesseans who have died in previous conflicts. This event, titled “Steps to Peace”, will express the hope that there will be no further casualties to memorialize.

There is continued controversy over the most honorable and responsible way for the United States to wind up its military operations in Iraq. But Americans are united in mourning for the fallen and sympathizing with their families. They are impatiently waiting for all the members of our armed forces currently serving in Iraq to come home safe and sound.

Citizens insist that the veterans of this conflict must receive all necessary assistance to regain their physical and mental health and to readjust to civilian life. And they are determined that the suffering should not be in vain – that the people of Iraq should attain self-rule, the fruits of their labor and resources and the reconstruction of their nation.

“Our attitude towards this conflict mirrors the mood of the season”, said Jane Steinfels Hussain, a member of the Nashville Peace Coalition. “There are springtime cultural traditions throughout the world, mourning death but looking forward to new life and hoping for a better future.” “We are not blind to the death and suffering caused by this conflict. We do
not pretend that everything has gone well. But we express our hope for a more peaceful world in the future and our determination to work for the wellbeing of all.”

Sponsored by the Nashville Peace Coalition, a project of the Nashville Peace & Justice Center.

The UFPJ support helps put an additional national spotlight on what many consider the Agent Orange of this generation of wars, with depleted uranium munitions used in Iraq and the Gulf region, in the Balkans during the Clinton administration, likely in Afghanistan, and possibly in Lebanon. The munitions have been widely tested throughout the U.S. mainland, in Hawaii, and in the Puerto Rican island of Vieques as well, leaving radioactive and toxic contamination in all testing and manufacturing regions, with little cleanup effort underway except in a couple of areas identified as Superfund sites.

Linda Modica, lead Tennessee coordinator, Angela Helwig of Georgia Peace & Justice and Chris Lugo of the Nashville Peace Coalition outlined what plans have been put in place thus far, including a rally in downtown Jonesborough, a march to and musical presence at Aerojet Ordnance – remaining U.S.producer of DU weapons cores, music and speakers in Jonesborough itself, and efforts to mobilize support.

Major Doug Rokke, military whistleblower who headed up Gulf War 1 attempts to cleanup DU munitions in Iraq and later demanded their use be terminated, will be a key speaker. Also addressing the rally will be a representative from Vieques. Lugo has been in contact with Rokke and the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques to help secure their presence in Jonesborough.

Angela Helwig has contacted the Iraq Veterans Against the War chapter in Atlanta for a speaker while UFPJ and Linda Modica has contacted the Gulf War Veterans Against the War and the NAACP as well. Linda is also an NAACP member. Musicians including Animal Nation, the group present at the Chattanooga Iraq war anniversary rally two years ago, have been invited to participate.

Meanwhile, Christian Peacemaker Teams will have its third stop DU delegation in Jonesborough, from Oct. 25 to Nov. 4, in its continued campaign against DU munitions, which will include team members from the U.S., Canada, Ghana and Nepal. Their presence overlaps the Oct. 27 event.

As a sidenote, Cliff Kindy, who has been key organizer for the CPT Jonesborough delegations, will be returning to Iraq in October with three other CPT members to restore the CPT presence there, suspended after four CPT members were kidnapped and Tom Fox was killed in Iraq while another team member died in a vehicle accident there.

For more information on depleted uranium munitions, visit:
http://du-blog.wildclearing.com
Wes * Eileen Rehberg, Ph.Ds.
www.wildclearing.com