End Pentagon Climate Crimes! Say Veterans Arrested In DC

Before deciding to reduce my own emissions by taking action closer to home, I used to join Veterans for Peace members risking arrest in Washington DC to protest U.S. wars. VFP members’ motivation this week was an issue I’ve been focused on for years, and one that is finally getting some traction in the corporate press: the climate impact of the U.S. military. So I’m a bit sad that I wasn’t there with them.

I appreciate this group’s efforts to get our warmongering government to recognize that we’re in a climate emergency and act accordingly. VFP members also called attention to other dangerous enivronmental impacts of military pollution, from toxic burn pits to leaking jet fuel into the groundwater in Hawai’i.

Here’s the press release from their action in DC.

Military Veterans Arrested Demanding Presidential & Congressional Action on Climate Crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C.- On Wednesday, August 3rd, seven military veterans and supporters were arrested near the U.S. Capitol Building. Members of Veterans For Peace, an organization of over 120 military veteran chapters worldwide, gathered at the foot of the Capitol demanding more robust action on addressing the climate crisis.

Veterans For Peace demands that the President and Congress:

  • Stop the U.S.-driven wars and all military weapons sales, shipments and support to nation states engaged in open armed conflict.
  • Require the U.S. military release a full report on their greenhouse gas emissions. The United States military does not publicly and regularly report its overall fuel consumption or greenhouse gas emissions—despite requirements laid out in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021. DoD is estimated to emit more CO2 than over 120 separate countries.
  • Declare a Climate Emergency NOW–and use all the resulting Presidential powers including stopping the granting of new resource extraction permits and leases, e.g., drilling on public lands and pipeline construction, and strengthening of standards including air quality and methane emissions.
  • Cut the Pentagon Budget- Military spending should be reduced by at least $200 billion annually, freeing up $2 trillion or more over the next decade for domestic and human needs priorities. With those spending cuts, the Pentagon’s budget would remain more than enough to keep America safe at a level well above our nation’s post-World War II historical average.
  • Prioritize investing in communities in the U.S. impacted by the military and climate change and in the Global South including paying the U.S.’ climate debt.
  • Prioritize diplomacy over the threat of military force, beginning with negotiations for a global Climate Emergency Treaty and the renegotiation of lapsed nuclear arms treaties between U.S. and Russia.

“The military has done next to nothing to reduce their carbon footprint, either ignoring the climate mandate completely or just focusing on creating more advanced weapons systems that can continue to operate under worsening climate conditions. From the burn pits to nuclear waste to water contamination in Hawai’i, the U.S. military is responsible for an unprecedented amount of climate disasters. It is past time for Congress and the President to hold the U.S. military accountable for their catastrophic effects on the planet.” -Garett Reppenhagen, Executive Director of Veterans For Peace, U.S. Army, Cavalry/Scout Sniper, OIF Veteran.

“I chose to risk arrest today because as a Marine who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, I saw firsthand the devastation that the military has wrought on countries around the globe, including just 48 hours ago when the U.S. military issued yet another drone strike on Afghanistan. The U.S. spends unprecedented amounts of money on an ever-expanding U.S. military, using veterans like me as pawns in their justifications for more money. We need to be reducing U.S. militarism and redirecting that money towards climate solutions like renewable energy and resources that meet human needs.” -Chris Velazquez, OIF/OEF Veteran, 2004-2010

Interviews available upon request

####

 For Photos of the Event

“As a retired research geologist I fear the climate crisis. As a veteran, I know our military fuels this crisis and they have no accountability for their actions. It is too late for more talk, we need immediate action.” -Jim Rine, U.S. Army, 1970-73

“As a lifelong resident of Hampton Roads, Virginia, which has the largest naval institution in the world, I’ve seen the domestic environmental harm the military causes in my own backyard. From the dumping of jet fuel into wetlands in Virginia Beach to the contamination of our waterways from shipyards, it’s important to recognize all impacts of incessant militarism and say no to the military’s war on the climate.” T.J. Thompson, U.S. Navy, 1998-2004, deployed to South America, Mediterranean Cruise and the invasion of Iraq

“It is totally irresponsible for our government to spend billions of dollars funding wars abroad that accelerate the climate crisis while people are suffering at home without housing or food.” -Jeff Parente, U.S. Marine Corps, 2006-2014, OIF Veteran

“The money needed to avoid the worst results of climate change, as well as many other social issues that lack adequate funding, is the wasteful and bloated military budget. Not only that, the U.S. military is the greatest contributor to mounting ecological catastrophe.” -Joshua Farris, U.S. Army, 2000-2004, OIF veteran

“We’ve passed the point of return for our climate and our world. I am here because I know that we must do everything we can to mitigate the worst of what is to come. We must not sit back in apathy and hopelessness. The time to act is NOW.” -Stephanie Atkinson, U.S. Army Reserve, 1984-1990

“As a veteran I have seen first hand the waste of the U.S. military. I have also watched Congress say that they care about veterans and active duty members of the military as an excuse to enrich lobbyists and military contractors, while defunding any military benefits. Since leaving the military I have become a land conservation advocate and I believe I have a responsibility to speak out against U.S. militarism and the pollution that the military creates.” -Mike Marion, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1988-90, Panama

“One of the ways I atone for my actions when I was in the military in Iraq, before I knew any better, was to work towards a better world.  I want future generations to have a chance to live in a world that is not on fire.”  -Jules Vaquera, U.S. Air Force, OIF Veteran, 2000-2006

Contact: 314-899-4515, press@veteransforpeace.org

##

Check out VFP’s Climate and Militarism Project which is doing great work educating and resisting. 

End Pentagon Climate Crimes! Say Veterans Arrested In DC

Before deciding to reduce my own emissions by taking action closer to home, I used to join Veterans for Peace members risking arrest in Washington DC to protest U.S. wars. VFP members’ motivation this week was an issue I’ve been focused on for years, and one that is finally getting some traction in the corporate press: the climate impact of the U.S. military. So I’m a bit sad that I wasn’t there with them.

I appreciate this group’s efforts to get our warmongering government to recognize that we’re in a climate emergency and act accordingly. VFP members also called attention to other dangerous enivronmental impacts of military pollution, from toxic burn pits to leaking jet fuel into the groundwater in Hawai’i.

Here’s the press release from their action in DC.

Military Veterans Arrested Demanding Presidential & Congressional Action on Climate Crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C.- On Wednesday, August 3rd, seven military veterans and supporters were arrested near the U.S. Capitol Building. Members of Veterans For Peace, an organization of over 120 military veteran chapters worldwide, gathered at the foot of the Capitol demanding more robust action on addressing the climate crisis.

Veterans For Peace demands that the President and Congress:

  • Stop the U.S.-driven wars and all military weapons sales, shipments and support to nation states engaged in open armed conflict.
  • Require the U.S. military release a full report on their greenhouse gas emissions. The United States military does not publicly and regularly report its overall fuel consumption or greenhouse gas emissions—despite requirements laid out in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021. DoD is estimated to emit more CO2 than over 120 separate countries.
  • Declare a Climate Emergency NOW–and use all the resulting Presidential powers including stopping the granting of new resource extraction permits and leases, e.g., drilling on public lands and pipeline construction, and strengthening of standards including air quality and methane emissions.
  • Cut the Pentagon Budget- Military spending should be reduced by at least $200 billion annually, freeing up $2 trillion or more over the next decade for domestic and human needs priorities. With those spending cuts, the Pentagon’s budget would remain more than enough to keep America safe at a level well above our nation’s post-World War II historical average.
  • Prioritize investing in communities in the U.S. impacted by the military and climate change and in the Global South including paying the U.S.’ climate debt.
  • Prioritize diplomacy over the threat of military force, beginning with negotiations for a global Climate Emergency Treaty and the renegotiation of lapsed nuclear arms treaties between U.S. and Russia.

“The military has done next to nothing to reduce their carbon footprint, either ignoring the climate mandate completely or just focusing on creating more advanced weapons systems that can continue to operate under worsening climate conditions. From the burn pits to nuclear waste to water contamination in Hawai’i, the U.S. military is responsible for an unprecedented amount of climate disasters. It is past time for Congress and the President to hold the U.S. military accountable for their catastrophic effects on the planet.” -Garett Reppenhagen, Executive Director of Veterans For Peace, U.S. Army, Cavalry/Scout Sniper, OIF Veteran.

“I chose to risk arrest today because as a Marine who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, I saw firsthand the devastation that the military has wrought on countries around the globe, including just 48 hours ago when the U.S. military issued yet another drone strike on Afghanistan. The U.S. spends unprecedented amounts of money on an ever-expanding U.S. military, using veterans like me as pawns in their justifications for more money. We need to be reducing U.S. militarism and redirecting that money towards climate solutions like renewable energy and resources that meet human needs.” -Chris Velazquez, OIF/OEF Veteran, 2004-2010

Interviews available upon request

####

 For Photos of the Event

“As a retired research geologist I fear the climate crisis. As a veteran, I know our military fuels this crisis and they have no accountability for their actions. It is too late for more talk, we need immediate action.” -Jim Rine, U.S. Army, 1970-73

“As a lifelong resident of Hampton Roads, Virginia, which has the largest naval institution in the world, I’ve seen the domestic environmental harm the military causes in my own backyard. From the dumping of jet fuel into wetlands in Virginia Beach to the contamination of our waterways from shipyards, it’s important to recognize all impacts of incessant militarism and say no to the military’s war on the climate.” T.J. Thompson, U.S. Navy, 1998-2004, deployed to South America, Mediterranean Cruise and the invasion of Iraq

“It is totally irresponsible for our government to spend billions of dollars funding wars abroad that accelerate the climate crisis while people are suffering at home without housing or food.” -Jeff Parente, U.S. Marine Corps, 2006-2014, OIF Veteran

“The money needed to avoid the worst results of climate change, as well as many other social issues that lack adequate funding, is the wasteful and bloated military budget. Not only that, the U.S. military is the greatest contributor to mounting ecological catastrophe.” -Joshua Farris, U.S. Army, 2000-2004, OIF veteran

“We’ve passed the point of return for our climate and our world. I am here because I know that we must do everything we can to mitigate the worst of what is to come. We must not sit back in apathy and hopelessness. The time to act is NOW.” -Stephanie Atkinson, U.S. Army Reserve, 1984-1990

“As a veteran I have seen first hand the waste of the U.S. military. I have also watched Congress say that they care about veterans and active duty members of the military as an excuse to enrich lobbyists and military contractors, while defunding any military benefits. Since leaving the military I have become a land conservation advocate and I believe I have a responsibility to speak out against U.S. militarism and the pollution that the military creates.” -Mike Marion, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1988-90, Panama

“One of the ways I atone for my actions when I was in the military in Iraq, before I knew any better, was to work towards a better world.  I want future generations to have a chance to live in a world that is not on fire.”  -Jules Vaquera, U.S. Air Force, OIF Veteran, 2000-2006

Contact: 314-899-4515, press@veteransforpeace.org

##

Check out VFP’s Climate and Militarism Project which is doing great work educating and resisting. 

Is Indivisible The Invisible Hand Of The Ukraine War Thought Police?

Much of the narrative control in my area around the Ukraine war has been taken up by liberal Democrats, many affiliated with the so-called grassroots group Indivisible.

When I blogged about being the turd in the punchbowl at an alleged peace demonstration that was actually a pro-NATO, anti-Russia event in California I had not yet figured this out. I was just surprised to find myself at a rally for Ukrainian nationalism where people couldn’t figure out why I was carrying this sign:

A former ally in the mascot retirement battle took great issue with my stating that George Soros was the money behind the color revolutions movement in Europe. She accused me of antisemitism (I had not at the time realized that Soros was Jewish but I do now) and of consuming and sharing antisemitic tropes from the dregs of the right-wing internet (something I never do because I try to practice mental hygiene while still following the news of the day). At the time I removed Soros’ name due to her objections and because it was an aside in a post about the pressure to abandon anti-imperialist analysis of the war in Ukraine.

She was wrong. 

Soros is deeply involved in Ukraine present and past. 

This is clear now that I’ve had more time to read up on this aspect of the current war.

Indivisible is an organization with deep ties to the Open Society Foundations founded by Soros. It sprang up as a sort of Tea Party wannabe during the heyday of the demagogue with bad hair who became our 45th president. Indivisible is currently infiltrating and pushing aside peace organizations in Maine. Narrative control is their trademark and is accomplished sometimes by online shouting matches and sometimes by overwhelming numbers of Ukraine flag wavers at well-established vigils for peace.

I began to notice that the talking points of Indivisible members here in New England were curiously alike.

Not just the perjoratives routinely assigned to the Russian Federation’s president, but the recurring theme that dissenting voices have no right to speak up. And if they dare to speak up anyway, they are routinely accused of being aligned with Putin, or 45, or white supremacists, etc.

Then a friend mentioned that ads for an Indivisible leader in Maine who is running for District Attorney ended with rapid fine print narration that included funding from…Soros. I reached out to Jackie Sartoris’ campaign to ask if I had misheard this and got a prompt response from the campaign manager explaining that those are PAC ads and not within the control or purview of the candidate. Also that Indivisible Brunswick was a “grassroots” group operating independently of the national organization.

So I shared with the campaign manager some of what I’d found:

“Of Indivisible’s 2017 revenue, 35 percent was raised through small dollar donations, and 65 percent was received through major gifts and foundation grants.”

source: https://www.indivisibleannualreport.org/financials/

“Angel Padilla, Indivisible Project’s policy director, previously worked as an analyst with the National Immigration Law Center (an organization funded by grants from Soros’ Open Society Foundations).. “

source: https://indivisible.org/staff.

Today I had already decided to peek behind the curtain that obscures the workings of narrative management around the U.S./NATO proxy war with Russia in Ukraine only to discover that, by coincidence, I was suspended yesterday from posting in the VFP Discussion Group on Facebook. The group is run by moderators that might as well work for the Pentagon and they like to note that it’s a private group not affiiliated with VFP (odd choice for a name in that case). They decide what are acceptable and unacceptable news sources — with guidance from the same government that is silencing and shadow banning dissenters on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Google search.

I wonder, does that fact that Veterans for Peace (VFP) national has been in dire financial straits the last couple of years have anything to do with shifts in narrative to defend U.S. government warmongering policies under a Democrat? Or to silence dissenters? It’s impossible to say for sure but these are questions worth asking. The Russia Working Group of VFP recently reported having a heated discussion that included a fellow calling various people “communists.” Research on Ben Schrader turned up his claim of a visiting professorship at Central European University, sometimes called “George Soros University” because it was created with an endowment from Soros and because, as board chair, he would confer diplomas.

Also sad is observing the Democracy Now! media organization become more and more aligned with the Democratic Party, probably due to accepting support from the Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, and the like. DN! touted the faux humanitarian White Helmets of Syria and has done some serious flag waving for Ukraine. Is it worth mentioning that DN! is strapped for cash, too?

Source: Caitlin Johnstone

A final note on the subject of narrative control: I see that the neo-Nazi Azov battalion that the U.S. taxpayer has been arming has revised its logo. Having the Buffalo mass shooter targeting Black grocery shoppers wear the same design as the background for the Azov logo was…inconvenient. So Azov removed it. 

I’ll bet they wish they could scrub the internet of evidence of past usage, but that would be difficult. Keep sharing!