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Feb-22-2011 23:16printcomments

Direct Action Against U.S. Navy

Navy weapons tests destroy ocean life.


Courtesy: UKIAH BLOG

(EUREKA, Calif.) - In this past Saturday's Rally in Eureka - we acknowledged how this government has ignored our greatest concerns for over 2 years past and we agreed that all avenues being exhausted, saving Great Ocean Life is left in our hands.

The Navy says personnel in the NW
Training Range Complex participate in
four levels of training. US Navy photo

A Declaration

As a group, we are resolved to advocate nonviolent direct action in face of U.S. Navy's blatant cruelty and killing.


A mission statement:
As certain as the Golden Rules voyage (see below) inspired the first Nuclear Test Ban Treaty by setting out  to engage  ultimate threat of nuclear testing, we must attempt to intersect with U.S. Navy in their testing areas.

Beginning This Campaign
By calling and connecting with people owning boats among our locals . . . and friends in all coastal regions of our country effected by these tests, encouraging them to be part of this search for those who own boats and can be part of a flotilla . . . numbers of boats  from all coastal areas. . . to intersect with U.S. Navy's testing,
in bringing wider public notice of this
  extermination of precious ocean life.

For this government to go on with its rationales for eliminating ocean life is not an option! It promises to end certain ocean life cycles and all the marginal to worse ocean deterioration which follows.

We will continue to urge this government to act, as we have in California through Rep. Mike Thompson and our Senators, while, for example, Thompson's most recent  correspondence sights only his past efforts, while all of this wrecklessness and slaughter go right on.

As in any action of civil disobedience, our reasons go beyond these present and unacceptable national policies. In refusing to include care and maintenance of great oceans, this government demonstrates it is not fit to fulfill  responsibilities demanded by our times and in no way  reflects our greatest concerns.

*Thus we begin that we begin, in earnest. . . making our calls and sending our messages by every means we can muster. . .  in arousing  awareness of this campaign in finding those who can help in any given area along our coasts... and readying  ourselves to sail into Naval testing areas.

We've been living in a quasi dark age mentality for ages
regarding our responsibilities of care for oceans and their life forms.

Our Inspiration:
The 30 ft. sailboat Golden Rule changed the world with her epic voyage into the Pacific and is now  being refurbished  in Eureka, Calif. and inspires us to act!

It sailed in  1958, with Albert Bigelow at the helm, a former lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy who commanded three combat vessels in World War II. He set out with four crewmen aboard this small sailboat from San Pedro, Calif., to protest nuclear testing in waters off the Marshall Islands, located in the western Pacific Ocean between Guam and Hawaii.

The boat was boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard twice in Hawaii, and the Golden Rule crew were arrested before it could make it  to the testing area, but  this action, together with what followed brought on the Nuclear Treaty. The incident stands out as one of the finest examples of nonviolent protest, together with great exposure to the world at large, which brought on such incredible demand-government responded!

Stage 1  - Present focus
Reaching out  to caring people of California, Oregon and Washington, the eastern seaboard, Gulf coast, Hawaii and Marianna Islands, spreading this message as much as possible, which is only as good as what all of us can do!...... to friends, friends of friends, those in other coastal areas... to find those with seaworthy  craft, maybe fishermen who may be aware of how the Navy's "take' (kill) has been cumulative and undermining of their own livelihoods.

This is a stunning issue, a whole teaching in itself. . . so be prepared
 with your best set of facts and feelings in reaching others.

Stage 11 - Strategies and logistics for carrying out this mission
If we feel we can muster and have decent communications/coordinating among  a close knit group of those in any specific coastal areas, then forming some idea of how to go about this..all of us committed/rooted in  non violence as we  proceed with any  direct actions.

Time is of essence :  Every region is essentially a self contained area and should be among those who know and trust one another. . . each immediate group deciding its own focus/action/time line and taking care to keep such plans known only within that particular group.                                                                                                  
Meeting to organize in each area;  discussing all implications and credible ways to proceed;  any info on Naval scheduling of departures from bases involved with testings;  working on plans and your crew scheduling of  calendared time slots over the next months.  Listing all needs of equipment, personal gear needed, food, etc. scheduling those involved where they have time. Attempting to ascertain  how much support we have for this.  

We ought to acknowledge what all this will take.    Only if we  feel such an action is right...feel confident we're able to follow through, have the time, are able to work closely together on strategies in the best sense supporting one another in considering  an action.  It's going to take some real doing.

Greater numbers of us involved gives us far better chances.  It gives us more opportunity to know what the Navy is up to in regard to these tests in our own areas. And our greater numbers will help in case of government action against any one member or team.

Remembering all of this work in outreach is best for arousing public awareness and  continues building greater strength to demonstrate against these government atrocities.

It means mustering enough in any given group  who urgently feel this is a the right course, beyond mere emotion it invokes. 

Preparation means having a good sense of media contacts... both locally and beyond, among national environmental groups and the press. And considering the very best strategy... for when to be in touch with these media connections. 

Let us begin and see where this takes us, keeping in touch best we can and welcoming the best ways to go about  carrying out such plans.


What our world already faces:  (A quick review)
World  Summit  On Biodiversity  calls for immediate action to save life on Earth.                    TOKYO (AFP) -  Oct 10, 10'.
Delegates from  193 nations gathered  to confront the rapid loss of animal and plant species that allow humans to exist,  a "defining moment" in the history of mankind, aimed at survival of diverse species and ecosystems threatened by pollution, exploitation and habitat encroachment. "We are destroying the very foundations that sustain life on this planet.". . . estimates of Earth losing species 100 to 1,000 times the historical average. "We're on the verge of a major extinction spasm," said Russ Mittermeier, president of Conservation International.

Non violent resistance:
"Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with  good" said Gandhi throughout his life. Later Philip Berrigan told us: "We have to practice nonviolent resistance to imperial America, as a way of life."Resistance is not just a periodic fling, but a day to day process. Gandhi insisted that if people wanted independence, they had to start acting like they were free...and thus seeing what all was involved and what was robbing them of their liberty.

Non violent code:
+ Our attitude is one of openness and respect toward all beings
+ We will not use violence, either verbal or physical
+ We will not carry or use alcohol or drugs other than for medical purposes
     during actions
+ We will carry no weapons
+ We will strive to create an atmosphere of calm and dignity
+ We will not condone senseless acts of sabotage.
+ We promise to practice finding  humor in most  all concerns and pay
     attention to maintaining our awareness and our balance.

**Update:  U.S. Naval war against ocean life should be intimately tied to  upcoming protests  to end wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq!


Nationally inspired by the efforts of
Agricultural Defense Coalition of Mendocino,  
 www.agriculturedefense.org.
locally <clearwaterherbs@yahoo.com>
Coalition Against Naval Weapons Testing and killing of Marine life . . . connecting with native tribes, environmental, legal and other groups nationwide.

Rally organized by:
Communities For Justice and Peace, Humboldt.Co. Ca.
sending  out  reports  and research studies, exposing media bias and
holding government  accountable




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Anonymous February 23, 2011 10:06 am (Pacific time)

Looks as tho the military can do anything they want. Or do what their commander tells them to. Oh wait, isnt obama commander of the military? Isnt that the guy who spouts green house, AGW etc? Isnt it the military that creates more CO2 than the entire country of the U.S.? And lets not even talk about DU. While obama closes down coal plants in Texas...well, not all of them, GE (the military industrial complex), got a waiver..Come on people..wake the heck up!

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