Coleen Rowley at St Scholastica 3/22

UPDATE 3/22: Coleen Rowley's lecture has been POSTPONED on account of the blizzard. It has been rescheduled to TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 7:30pm

Tuesday, March 22  April 12

7:30 pm

College of St Scholastica - Mitchell Auditorium

"Obama's Response to Terrorism"

         with Coleen Rowley

Free and open to the public

Sponsored by the Alworth Center 

         for the Study of Peace and Justice

 

Our friend Coleen Rowley is returning to Duluth to give the closing lecture of the Terrorism and Human Rights series at the College of St Scholastica. A retired, 23-year veteran of the FBI, Rowley was honored by TIME Magazine as a Person of the Year in 2002 for blowing the whistle on pre-9/11 intelligence lapses. We don't want to give away her talk, but it's safe to say she'll tear U.S. war policy and intelligence gathering to shreds as anti-democratic and counter-productive. Don't miss her... we're sure you'll learn something new from our favorite agent-turned-activist.

While you're at it, check out these other fine speakers coming to our area:

Thursday, March 17

7:30 pm

College of St Scholastica - Mitchell Auditorium

"Dying to Drive the Foreigners Out"

      with Robert Pape

Dr. Pape is the director of the University of Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism and a leading international authority on the psychology of suicide terrorism. Check out his article "It's the Occupation, Stupid" for Foreign Policy here.

Saturday, March 26

7:00 pm

College of St Scholastica - Burns Wellness Center 249

"The Perils of Military Presence in Our Urban Communities"

      with Art Laffin

Art Laffin is an author, longtime peace activist and member of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Community in Washington, DC. He has participated in numerous nonviolent actions for disarmament and upholding the rights of the homeless, prisoners, immigrants and victims of torture. Sponsored by the Duluth chapter of Pax Christi - the international Catholic peace movement. Free and open to the public.

Duluthian reports on protest in Iraq

While the corporate media in the U.S. have offered some coverage of the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, they have almost completely ignored the massive protests sweeping Iraq, led by ordinary people fed up with government corruption and repression. U.S.-backed security forces have responded violently, with dozens of deaths reported. Duluthian Michele Naar-Obed is currently in the Kurdish north with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and has been able to send home regular reports. Below is a recent summary of events. You can read more and see photos from the protests on the CPT website. 

The Voices of Iraqi Kurdistan Will Not Be Silenced

By Michele Naar-Obed

Neither military forces firing indiscriminately into crowds of unarmed demonstrators, nor arrests, torture and disappearances of protest organizers nor empty promises made by government leaders have deterred the Kurdish people from continuing their demonstrations demanding an end to what they call a corrupt government run primarily by tribal parties.

Having watched the people of Tunisia, Sudan and Egypt force the step down of dictators, the people of the Kurdish north of Iraq are following their example and the wave of uprisings has washed over this land. Since 17 February, 2011, thousands of people flood the city center of Suleimaniya now dubbed “Freedom Square”, for daily demonstrations.

Since the demonstrations began there have been deaths and injuries of unarmed civilians by military and security forces, imposed curfew, armed militias positioned throughout the city of Suleimaniya and surrounding Freedom Square, an independent television station burned to the ground, hundreds of organizers arrested and disappeared, Suleimaniya students studying in Erbil universities sent back to Suleianiya, roadblocks set up around the city of Erbil not allowing Suleimaniya cars to enter, KRG Parliament emergency sessions to negotiate the demands of the people, assassination attempts against religious leaders who advocate for this nonviolent revolution, five unidentified people assumed to be terrorists, shot dead by Kurdish security forces outside of Suleimaniya city. and scores of demonstrations occurring regularly in the sub districts throughout the Suleimaniya governorate. 

The White Group formed consisting of unarmed individuals forming a human peace wall standing between the thousands of soldiers and the thousands of demonstrators in order to create a safe environment for both demonstrator and soldier. 

Both the Erbil and Dohuk governorates have banned demonstrations. Both of these governorates are KDP party controlled. Most people there appear too frightened to break the ban.

The people who have found their voice are not willing to be silenced again. The demonstrators talk of a hunger strike followed by a general strike to force Mr. Barzani to step down from his position as KRG president and to force immediate elections for an interim government. Nobody knows how long this will take or what new efforts will arise to drive out this current government if these demands aren't met.

It is clear that the current government and party leaders are feeling threatened of losing their positions of power that they have held since 1991. They have been fighting, often with dirty tactics, to regain control. If they do, the opposition people are sure that they will be killed, tortured, disappeared, arrested, and broken. The stakes are high.

There has been little reporting outside of the highly controlled local media outlets and there is a plea to not let this struggle die in vain.

Tell Congress: Close the SOA!

by Twin Ports SOA Watch

If the federal budget is out of balance, why are we paying to train Latin American soldiers to make war on their own people? That's what Twin Ports-area students will be asking members of Congress when they travel to DC in April to take part in SOA Watch lobby days.

The School of the Americas, now officially known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), has graduated the worst human rights abusers and despots in our hemisphere. Our former representatives Jim Oberstar (MN-8) and Dave Obey (WI-7) were among the strongest congressional critics of the SOA/WHINSEC and worked for decades to close it down.

Now we need to make sure our new Congressmen get it right.

We need your help!

1. Donate air miles or money to help UMD and CSS students take part in lobby days. If you can donate miles, contact Margie at mnelson{at}css{dot}edu. Checks can be made out to "CJL at CSS" and mailed to:

Center for Just Living
attn: Jay Newcomb
1200 Kenwood Avenue
Duluth, MN 55811

2. Collect signatures! You can print out petition forms for Duffy here and Cravaack here.