Protestors tell DeLauro: stop war in Ukraine

 

 By Reginald Johnson

  NEW HAVEN ---- For over a year, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, has been an ardent supporter of the United States’ military aid program for Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia.

The U.S. has provided over $100 billion in assistance to Ukraine --- much of that lethal aid --- and DeLauro has used her influence as a leader on the House Appropriations Committee to make sure the aid packages got approved.

 Last Friday marked the 1-year anniversary of the start of the war and a group of area residents gathered in chilly weather outside the congresswoman’s office at 59 Elm Street to say they don’t like DeLauro’s pro-war position and demand an end to the Ukraine conflict.

  “We’re here to stop this war. It’s killing thousands of people and destroying the infrastructure of Ukraine and Russia and is causing economic pain for all of Europe, Africa, Asia and the United States,” said Henry Lowendorf, a member of the Greater New Haven Peace Council, which organized the vigil.

   Lowendorf said they want DeLauro to get behind the idea of a cease-fire and negotiations to end the war.

  “What we want Rosa to do is to cut the silence of the Biden administration that there are alternatives to war and start promoting negotiations. It is absolutely regrettable that when someone from the Pentagon like Gen. Mark Milley says that we need to negotiate, he can be shut down by the Biden administration – ‘you can’t talk like that,’ said Lowendorf.  He added that when some congressional progressives suggested peace talks, they were also shut down.

  “So the result is, dissent is being crushed,” he said.

Members of the group carried signs that read “Don’t Escalate --- Negotiate,” and “Diplomacy Works --- No More Wars.” and handed out fliers to passersby.

 Several drivers honked their horn in approval at the sight of the protest.

     

 

Ukraine War protestors outside Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro's office in New Haven. (Henry Lowendorf photo)

   The flier warned that the longer the war goes on, the chances increase that nuclear weapons will be used. “Both the U.S. and Russia possess enormous arsenals of nuclear weapons. If used, they spell doom for civilization.”

  The protest also took aim at America’s bloated military budget, which siphons money away from addressing domestic needs such as housing, health care, education and the environment. The leaflets invoked the words of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, who criticized the U.S. for spending so much money on war. In his famous “Beyond Vietnam” speech in 1967, King said that “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

   Just a ten percent reduction in America’s $858 billion military budget by Congress, the flier suggested,  “would return billions of dollars back to cities like ours.”

 Lowendorf and others urged people to call their local congresspersons and the White House and ask that the military budget be cut and that diplomacy be used to end the war in Ukraine.

 The Congressional switchboard is 202-224-3121 or toll free at 800-826-3688. The White House number is 202-456-1111 to leave a message.

  The end of the flier read simply: “Remaining Silent Prolongs The Wars.”

 

 

 

Ukraine War: peace now --- or else

 

 By Reginald Johnson

      Commentary

 

     While the United States and NATO continue to fuel the Ukraine-Russia War by sending more lethal aid to Ukraine, former President Donald Trump warned last week that peace talks are needed immediately to avert disaster.

  “It’s far past the time for all parties involved to pursue a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine before this already horrific catastrophe spirals out of control and ends up leading indeed to World War III and this would be a war like no other war, because this would be a nuclear war,” he said on his social media platform, Truth Social.

   You can trash Trump all you want, but he’s right on this one. The war is threatening to spiral out of control and a nuclear confrontation with Russia is entirely possible.

 The implications of that are terrifying --- a nuclear clash would likely be a world-ending event.

 Just last week President Biden went ahead and approved the dispatch of M-I tanks to Ukraine, breaking a promise he made in March when he said he would never do that because it would mean “World War III.”

  Now there’s talk of sending fighter jets. The Russians have warned that such a step could have very serious repercussions. Again, Biden has said he won’t go that far. But will he keep his word?

  Sending the jets may be crossing the Rubicon for the United States.

  It’s a sad commentary on the state affairs in our country when the much-criticized Donald Trump is the only national political leader who’s making any sense on Ukraine.

  Are there any leading Democrats speaking out on the need for peace and urging that the administration change course to avoid disaster? The answer is, sadly, no. This is an utter disgrace. We have the prospect of nuclear war on the horizon and the Democrats say nothing; in fact they’re getting on board for sending more aid to Ukraine to “help Ukraine win.”  Win what? A radiated wasteland?

 Unfortunately, the Democrats today are not the party of George McGovern, Gene McCarthy, Wayne Morse and Al Gore Sr. --- courageous statesmen who spoke out generations ago against the terrible Vietnam War and urged peace. Far from it.

  But the Republicans are not much better on the war. Except for some libertarians in the House, there is little opposition from the GOP on Ukraine. And some Republicans, like Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, are goading Biden to ratchet up the war by sending the fighter jets.

  Already the Ukraine-Russia War has been disastrous. There’s been 200,000 casualties, including tens of thousands of deaths. More than 5 million people have been forced to flee Ukraine and the country’s infrastructure has been devastated.

     

The US is sending M-I battle tanks to Ukraine, in a major escalation of the war. (Photo, Wikimedia Commons)

  Right from the beginning the Biden administration has turned its back on tentative peace deals that could have settled the conflict and opted instead to provide an unending stream of military aid to the Eastern European country.

  Biden’s flip-flop on delivering tanks to Ukraine recalls the lying by another president in the lead-up to the Vietnam War. Lyndon Johnson had pledged during his 1964 campaign for president against the hawkish GOP candidate Barry Goldwater that he would never send American soldiers to Southeast Asia, where the US was supporting South Vietnam in its efforts to beat back a communist insurgency. America had limited its involvement to providing military advisors and equipment.

But within eight months of his victory in the ‘64 election, Johnson  went back on his word and dispatched 40,000 troops to Vietnam, and the United States became fully involved in a land war in Asia.

   After that, the US spent eight years trying to win in Vietnam with a seemingly unending series of troop deployments (the US troop total rose to over 500,000) and relentless bombing campaigns against North Vietnam and targets in South Vietnam. The US effort ultimately failed and America had to pull out of Vietnam in defeat.

  Some 54,000 Americans and 3 million Indochinese lost their lives during that war. The Vietnamese countryside was left poisoned by environmental toxins used by the US to defoliate the jungle during combat operations.

 Where is the Ukraine War headed? Nowhere good, in my view --- unless political leaders, the media and yes, the peace movement, wake up from their comatose state, realize the severity of the situation and demand an end to the fighting.

   Fortunately, there is some ray of hope that the peace movement may be finally expanding to stop the war. A rally called “Rage Against the War Machine” will take place February 19^th in Washington DC. What is noteworthy here is that several prominent activists associated with the left and people tied to the libertarian movement on the right are joining forces in the protest.

 Anti-war activists and left-leaning figures such as Jill Stein, Max Blumenthal, David Swanson, Chris Hedges and Ann Wright will be speaking out against the war along with libertarians like Ron Paul.

  The event is being sponsored by the Libertarian Party and the People’s Party. A statement by the People’s Party said “While the People’s Party and the Libertarian Party do not agree on a number of substantial issues, we agree that there is no “Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” in a world devastated by nuclear war. We agree that US resources should be used to improve the lives of Americans, not to prolong wars around the world that profit the war industry. We agree that diplomacy has not been given a chance in Ukraine and that the senseless deaths and destruction could have been avoided and needs to be stopped.”

  The statement added, “To make a difference in this country, we need to be able to come together with a diversity of voices and opinions.”

  Some people on the left may quibble with the idea of joining forces with libertarians on the right but this is no time to insist on ideological purity. This is a time when people of diverse views but who share a common desire for peace have to come together to stop the madness.

 

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