Pentagon

Here's the Fellowship of Reconciliation's Colombia update for September 2009.

• Thanks, and a Request
  
• Bases and UNASUR Update
  
• Beyond the Peace Community...
  
• Damming Magdalena: Emgesa Threatens Colombian Communities

• Delegation to Colombia: Apply Today!
  
• Letter from the Field: A Stranger in Our Midst
• U.S.-Aided Intelligence Unit Accuses Human Rights Groups
  
• The Dark Side of Plan Colombia
  
• Pentagon Plans Intervention Ability from Military Base
  
• News Briefs: Reasons to Celebrate; Called to Trial; A C.O. Speaks
  

Delegation to Colombia: Apply Today!

August 15-29, 2009: Delegation to San Jose Peace Community, Medellin and Eastern Antioquia

Witness the incredible commitment and experience of the Peace Community of San José and other Colombian grassroots initiatives.

Program Highlights:

• Travel to the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó
• Meet
  with people whose family members have been killed by the U.S.-funded
  Colombian army and are nonviolently working for justice for these
  crimes.
• Meet grassroots activists who courageously and creatively advocate for truth, justice and integral reparations.
• Experience
  unparalleled access and a rich part of Colombian life to understand
  both the war's impacts on peasant communities and advances to justice.
• Convey your experience as a group to U.S. officials

Four decades of armed conflict in Colombia have led to indigenous
people, women, union activists, youth, journalists, and human rights
workers being subject to killing, displacement, and kidnapping. Now,
victims have united in a national movement to demand that the
perpetrators of these crimes be held responsible.

This essay of mine was recently included in a collection by the magazine Mother Jones called "Mission Creep: US Military Presence Worldwide."

What impresses about the sprawl of US bases and its reconstitution since 2001 is the lack of accountability. The US military presence overseas serves as an implicit threat of intervention to host countries and neighbors, and so enables the United States to defy international law and other obligations to the global community. The bases are also themselves unaccountable, especially as polluters, purveyors of sexual violence, and sites for torture. For most nations, it is an exercise in frustration to use political, diplomatic, or judicial channels to address the United States' abuses or extralegal demands, because Washington's military stands ready for aggression.

Have you heard about the New York Times' report on the Pentagon's use of retired military men with ties to defense contractors as seemingly-impartial public speakers on military policy? While I was never surprised to find that many former military leaders would support continued violence and occupation, this investigation uncovers a much more insidious connection. In return for their acting as ready-to-quote "military analysts" who would parrot administration talking points, these men and the contractors they represent gained increased access to military people and information beneficial to their own bottom lines.