Salem-News.com Peace articles

`Lobbying Elites: The Fast Track to Extinction`

Elites will continue to encourage us to 'exercise your democratic right' to vote and to lobby because once our political effort has been so channeled, our dissent is easily dissipated and thus ignored.

(TASMANIA, Aust.) - As we evaluate the outcomes of the recent UN climate negotiations in Warsaw, one lesson that we are invited to learn, again, relates to our strategy for getting effective action taken on the ongoing climate catastrophe and other critical environmental problems.

Is lobbying elites to change their behaviour an effective strategy for change?

The Beat Goes on and the Anger Grows

In this murderous drone bombing, 14 civilians were killed, including a baby and women. Baby killing does not elicit love and compassion from destroyed families; it promotes an intense hatred of the US government.

(JAMESTOWN, RI) - Three events occurred this week explain the ever growing worldwide anger towards the US. The first is the continued murder of innocents by US drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

‘There were pieces of my family all over the road,’ said Jan, recalling the deadly Sept. 7 late afternoon incident in an interview with the Los Angeles Times last week.

What Does Latest Dead Afghan 2-Year-Old Have in Common with Paul Robeson, John Wayne, Ernest Hemingway, Bob Marley, the Kennedys

Remember the millions of nameless forgotten dead, the victims of the industrial-scale "signature strikes" that have been our biggest public investment.

(WASHINGTON, DC) - This is the season of death, when we celebrate the dying of the sun with an orgiastic burst of consumption and environmental destruction. This is the season of rebirth when we spend time with loved ones and reach out to help others we don't know.

Now would be an appropriate time to come to grips with public murder and make a public investment in peace. If I were summoning back ghosts of governments past for a press conference at the National Press Club, my first inclination -- lasting only a split second -- would be to bring the Filipinos, the Vietnamese, the Native Americans...

Sharif In Kabul Pledges Support For Peace Talks

Relations between the two countries have been marked by tensions, with Afghanistan often accusing Pakistan of aiding Taliban leaders sheltering across the border.

(KABULRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) - During a visit to Kabul, Pakistan's prime minister has said he supports Afghan efforts to seek peace with the Taliban. Nawaz Sharif was speaking after meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on November 30. He said the recent release of a senior Taliban leader shows he is committed to helping bring peace to Afghanistan.

"I have assured my brother, President Karzai, that Pakistan would continue to extend all possible facilitation for the Afghan peace process," he said.

10 More Years in Afghanistan

The U.S. public has been telling pollsters we want all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan "as soon as possible" for years and years.

(WASHINGTON, DC) - When Barack Obama became president, there were 32,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. He escalated to over 100,000 troops, plus contractors. Now there are 47,000 troops these five years later.

Measured in financial cost, or death and destruction, Afghanistan is more President Obama's war than President Bush's. Now the White House is trying to keep troops in Afghanistan until "2024 and beyond."

Disagreement Without the Hate

Yet, there is indeed a peaceful, even collaborative, way to disagree.

(PORTLAND, OR) - Disagreement is an essential component of a healthy relationship, a healthy workplace, and a healthy democracy. Much research documents the dangers of surrounding ourselves with so-called “yes men” who always concur. Workplace echo chambers stifle innovation and reify bad policy decisions. Disagreement stimulates creative thinking and prompts innovation.

Yet, there is indeed a peaceful, even collaborative, way to disagree. And, I contend, that it never involves personal insults, ad hominem attacks, and strings of epithets and curse words.

Don`t Cry For Me, Karzai

With Karzai not playing nice anymore and following the same pattern all these setup leaders did, he probably won't last much longer.

(COLORADO SPRINGS) - Who is Hamid Karzai? What offer is he waiting for from the US? Is this to be another Noriega situation?

To some, Hamid Karzai has been a key person of interest for a long time now. To others, he just sort of came out of nowhere, and was made leader of a country undergoing a huge globalized makeover. It seems this started for Karzai back in the 80s while part of the Mujahidin that were fighting the soviets during that war in Afghanistan. Karzai was working with the CIA as a contact/contractor, and is still on the payroll today.

Why Don`t We Try to Understand and End Human Violence?

Human beings will end violence or Violence will end human beings.

(TASMANIA, Aust.) - The pre-eminent problem confronting humankind is human violence. It is our own violence, in its various guises, including the ongoing possibility of nuclear war and the ongoing devastation of the natural environment, that threaten to consign us to the fossil record within decades, if not sooner.

And yet we devote virtually no effort to trying to understand human violence and to developing strategies to end it. Why?

Afghan Elders Support Immediate Signing of US Security Deal

Karzai shocked Washington by saying that he would not sign the pact until after the April 2015 presidential elections.

(KABUL) - Even as tribal elders discuss the details of a 10-year security pact with the United States, controversy is swirling over the Afghan president’s announcement that he would delay signing the deal for several months.

In a direct rebuke to Hamid Karzai, the head of a 2,500-strong gathering of tribal and community leaders on Saturday said if the assembly approves the so-called Bilateral Security Agreement with the United States, the deal should be signed right away.

Karzai to Delay Signing Afghanistan Security Pact

Karzai's latest move jeopardizes international funding for Afghanistan, and comes after he gave an impassioned speech to 2,500 tribal, community and elected leaders, voicing his support for the pact.

(KABUL VOA News) - A national assembly of Afghan leaders continues to consider a new security pact with the U.S. on Friday following an abrupt move by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Karzai surprised U.S. and Afghan officials on Thursday when he said he is considering delaying the signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement until after the April 2014 Afghan presidential elections.