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"Enough with the slaughters" in Iraq- "Enough with the slaughters. Enough with the violence. Enough with the hatred in Iraq!"
~Benedict XVI Palm Sunday
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There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq. To say nothing
of the fact that, given the new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should
be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a ‘just war’”
~Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, May 2nd, 2003.
| The Wrong Force for the 'Right War' | | New York Times | |
Barack
Obama and John McCain have plenty of disagreements, but one thing they are united on is promising a troop surge in Afghanistan.
But what are the real prospects for turning fractious, impoverished Afghanistan into an orderly and prosperous nation and
a potential ally of the United States? What true American interests are being insufficiently advanced or defended in its remote
deserts and mountains? And even if these interests are really so broad, are they deliverable at an acceptable price? The answers
to these questions put the wisdom of an Afghan surge into great question. |
JUNE 5, 2008 Justice for LaVena JohnsonJuly
19, 2005, LaVena Johnson died near Balad, Iraq. The military told her family that it was a self-inflicted, non-combat
related injury - or that she committed suicide. And they said that she did it with an M-16. After viewing the
black and white copies of crime scene photos, viewing multiple bruises on her body, and speaking to different military personnel
as they prepared for her burial, her father and uncles realized that LeVena had been murdered. Eight days before
her twenthieth birthday, LaVena was beaten, raped, set on fire, shot, and left in a contractor's tent in Iraq. Her
family has been fighting for justice for LaVena for over two years now. How can you help?
Congressman
Lacy Clay has been working assist the Johnson family, but according to LaVena's father, the Arms Services Committee still
needs convincing to help find the perpetrators of this crime. You can help by calling Congressman Ike Skelton, Chairman
of the Arms Services Committe, and tell him that LaVena Johnson deserves justice. Tell him to investigate the death
of LaVena Johnson. We demand better treatment for our soldiers! Skelton's Washington D.C. phone number
is 202-225-2876. You can also email his administrative assistant, Kyle Wilkins, at kyle.wilkins@mail.house.gov.
Learn more: http://www.lavenajohnson.com Article by Col. Ann Wright - "Is There An Army Cover Up of Rapes and Murders of Army Women?" KMOV - Parents question their daughter's death in Iraq YouTube - Hear Dr. Johnson talk about his daughter's death at the VFP Convention, 2007
| 111 Nations Back Cluster-Bomb Ban | | Philadelphia Inquirer | | | More than 100 countries reached agreement yesterday to ban cluster bombs - weapons that
human-rights groups deplore but that the United States, which did not join the ban, calls an integral, legitimate part of
its arsenal. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose personal intervention yesterday led to final agreement among representatives
of 111 countries gathered in Dublin, called the ban a "big step forward to make the world a safer place." The Convention
on Cluster Munitions, as approved in Dublin, calls on signatories to stop producing and using cluster bombs and to destroy
all stockpiles within eight years. |
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