a busy time for peace and justice types in the Spokane area, and we are surrounded by national and global fires that scream for us to turn away from our local obligations and commitments.

I won't ignore the Wall Street nightmare or the perpetual death spiral of Bush's selective wars, or any of the elections that mean so much to most of us, but I can't give up on what people in Spokane are doing to create enlightenment and hope in our backyard, either.

Here's assuming we've survived the challenges of bringing Jeremy Scahill to the Inland Northwest. Now we have to ensure Bonnie Douglas, Peace Coeur d'Alene, and their community are not hung out to dry while Blackwater bulldozes its way into North Idaho and Idaho law enforcement. We should stay in touch and keep the media on their toes to make certain we don't waken one morning to find ourselves at the mercy of police, troopers and deputies who've been trained by frightening mercenaries.

It's always good to reflect upon the life and work of Mahatma Gandhi. Right away, Thursday, Oct. 2, we gather at the running statues for a little march to mark the 139th birthday of the man who invented modern nonviolent action. Please join us and bring someone who wants or needs to know more about the PJALS relationship to Mohandas K. Gandhi. 5 pm, Gondola Meadows, Riverfront Park. It won't be a long time or a long walk.

Friday, October 17, it's "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" in the Community Building lobby. This is a panel and multi-media presentation on the last depression and the next one with Bart Haggin, Lu Brown, and Chrys Ostrander, with music from The Blue Ribbon Tea Company. We've all been amazed at the timing of Michael Poulin in putting this together, but he still didn't think to call it "Uncle, Can You Spare $700 Billion?" No admission charge unless you have a private number for Henry Paulson. It's at 7 pm.

Yes, we are still working on the big box living wage initiative for Spokane, and it's clear that a lot of pain at the top of the U.S. economic pyramid of wealth and power could have been averted if more communities had local economic justice projects. Our commitment is to help the entire community by requiring the largest retailers to raise their wage floors, and we hope to take our revised plan back to the city council, soon.

There's a couple of faith-related items of interest: Saturday the 4th, Menno Church, beyond Ritzville, hosts the 31st Annual Mennonite Country Auction and Relief Sale. It's worth some of your precious gasoline, especially if you take a car full of folks to this oasis in the wheat fields where home made meets fair trade...bread, kuchen, kraut runza, pies, and cider before you even get to the quilts. Sales begin at 10 am, auction at noon.

Venerable Geshe Thupten Phelgye, a Tibetan monk and representative of the Dalai Lama, will speak at Gonzaga Law School, October 15. He's at the Moot Court Room at 6:30 pm, and his talk, entitled "Techniques for Transforming Hatred into Love" will explain methods for moving the mind from a place of anger and resentment to one of peace and goodwill. The event is sponsored by the Gonzaga University Religious Studies Department, Institute for Action Against Hate, and Unity House. For more information, contact John Sheveland at 509 313-6784 or sheveland@gonzaga.edu

Wall Street. As this is written, the first counter plan to the Bush-Paulson-Bernanke obsession has failed to get the Executive and Legislative agreement. Even Sen. McCain and other Republican leaders agreed there must be some oversight, accountability for overpaid executives, and protections for the middle class. I like the plan of Bernie Sanders, and I hope it will be considered. Sen. Sanders is the longest serving Independent in Congress, free to criticize Democrats and Republicans, alike. He is actually a socialist, an outcast in most states, but we're looking at a plutocratic attempt to fuse socialism and fascism, no matter what they call it, to repair a mess that could only be created by capitalist excess. We must not have a neat and easy solution to this Wall Street nightmare, or we will see it repeated, soon. A $25 billion bailout of the U.S. auto industry is already in the works. Imagine Exxon-Mobile continuing to march for years and suddenly discovering the world has gone sustainable. The insurance and pharmaceutical empires will certainly have their extra-large tin cups out when they bury the last of their solvent customers. How long can that take? This is a good time to be glad you're not ultra-rich, and you might be forgiven a few chuckles at the expense of those who finally have to wonder where their next billion is coming from. And don't forget, as big media already has, this great a collapse could only happen under cover of and with an assist by unchecked military extravagance. You might like to check in with VoteNoBailout.org

Another extravagance our nation refuses to correct is the death penalty. Imagine if the state of Georgia had paid attention to the facts and all available witnesses when Troy Davis was condemned almost 20 years ago. The anguish of two decades and festering of injustice, not to mention millions in state expenses, might have gone toward improving Georgia's punishment system. Not that they're ready to quit trying to kill an innocent person when the death penalty is under fire. After all, Florida got away with killing a killer the night Georgia wanted to kill Davis. The U.S. Supreme Court is still reluctant to stop an execution just because the condemned is innocent, but there were other compelling reasons to spare Davis. It seems people everywhere were outraged that he would not have a new trial after seven of nine witnesses against him recanted their testimony and three others had always been prepared to name another man as the perpetrator. A small, but vocal group led by Davis's sister made a difference, but still has miles to go before resting. An AP headline referred to the "cop killer" although the story told of his likely innocence.

The 1st McCain-Obama debate was a brutal reminder that American politicians are not allowed to confess that war is obsolete, unwinnable, and inexcusable. PJALS is challenged to educate around nonviolence, when even the most reasonable national leaders appear totally uninterested in the answers proved by King and Gandhi. That's why we ask that you help us find venues to teach nonviolence and nonviolent action. We abdicate our responsibilities as enlightened citizens, voters and parents as we leave another generation to be mislead, corrupted, and destroyed by the insane idea that our country can be made more free and more secure by a culture of death and destruction. Sen. McCain's insistence that we must not fail in Iraq is more of the tried and false idea that violence is good when WE are the most violent. The fact is that we, as a country, fail every day in Iraq and use that failure to excuse sending more troops to kill and be killed there. - RN

There is no way to peace. Peace is the way. - A.J. Muste

If the United States attacks yet another country and we learn of it after noon, a group of us will meet the following day at 5:00 pm at the Federal Building at Riverside and Monroe.

Students may buy half price tickets from PJALS.

News & Announcements...

Listen to what may be his most powerful speech,
The one they don't want you to hear, ever,
And note how interchangeable are the words
                    Vietnam & Iraq.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence

Also see:     
AOL/Microsoft-Hotmail Preventing Delivery of Truthout Communications    •

    Big Win for Watada: A Study in Courage and Honor
    By Bill Simpich
    t r u t h o u t | Perspective

    Sunday 11 November 2007

    On Thursday, November 8, Hon. Benjamin Settle, a federal court judge, issued a preliminary injunction halting any further court-martial proceedings of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada and effectively ruling against the Army on virtually every issue in the case. This injunction not only extends the stay until the conclusion of the habeas corpus proceedings, but also addresses the specific request for relief from further legal proceedings, stating, "the remedy sought by Petitioner, while rare, is appropriate."

    Although the Army issued a press release claiming to "look forward to the opportunity to further explain to the District Court judge the full extent of the protections and safeguards that are afforded to a military accused," (Seattle Times, 11/9/07), anyone who glances at the court ruling will agree that the Army's only lingering hope is to appeal this ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

    Judge Settle wrote "for several reasons ... it is likely that [Lt. Watada] will succeed on the merits of his double jeopardy claim" (Order, p. 22; a copy of the order is attached). The court held that the military judge acted "irrationally, irresponsibly, precipitately" (Order, page 31) in failing to consider feasible alternatives to a mistrial, and there was no good reason to stop the proceedings.

    This ruling came after the repeated refusal of the military appeals courts to free Lt. Watada of the burden of a second court-martial. Lt. Watada's attorneys have consistently argued that the military should not be allowed a "do-over." The military judge halted the first court-martial in the wake of admissions by prosecution witnesses regarding Lt. Watada's integrity and statements that Lt. Watada's decision not to deploy was an act of conscience.

    Prior to the initial court-martial, Lt. Ehren Watada told the Army that he was willing to accept a six month sentence for his refusal to lead his unit to fight in Iraq, explaining that he could not violate the oath he took as an officer to defend his country "against all enemies, foreign and domestic", and that to fight in Iraq would constitute a war crime.

    The Army responded by trying to make an example of Lt. Watada by demanding a six-year sentence. They took away his defenses, one by one. They continued to add extra charges.

    Finally, on the day of trial, as I watched the proceedings in the company of soldiers, media, and other civilians, the military judge Lt. Col. John Head took away Lt. Watada's final expert witness, eliminating critical testimony on military law and tradition and making a fair trial for the lieutenant virtually impossible. To make matters worse, Judge Head allowed the government to call a rebuttal witness, Professor Richard Swain, even though there was no longer any expert witness to rebut.

    This was to prove to be the Army's undoing. After Lt. Watada's superior officers gave unexpectedly favorable evidence on the lieutenant's integrity, Professor Swain testified that if officers such as Lt. Watada make the determination that they are being asked to commit war crimes "they have to be right. If they're not right, they have to expect to be held accountable."

    Following the testimony of Professor Swain, the prosecutor, Capt. Van Sweringen, was overheard to have said to one of his aides in the courtroom that "Dr. Swain was a disaster."

    The prosecution rested its case at the end of the day on February 6. The stage was set on the following morning for Lt. Watada to take control of the proceedings with a dramatic account of why he reasonably believed that the Iraq War was illegal. It was clear to everyone in the courtroom that the defense had made its essential points during the presentation of the government's case, and that Lt. Watada was going to command the attention of the gathered mass media.

    Lt. Watada's attorney then provided a proposed jury instruction to Judge Head offering this argument: that it was reasonable to believe that the Iraq War was illegal. It was apparent the judge did not want Lt. Watada to use this trial as his pulpit. He took a prolonged recess, while courtroom observers tapped their feet.

    Upon his return, Judge Head seized on this proposed jury instruction and argued that there was confusion about a pretrial agreement that governed the evidence to be used at trial, claiming that Lt. Watada had the mistaken impression that he had the defense of "reasonable belief that the war was illegal" as he had "confessed" to his guilt! Judge Head concluded that due to this supposed confusion, the trial had to stop.

    In my view, Judge Head's order was not only nonsense, but intentionally designed to prevent Lt. Watada from challenging the Iraq War to the mass media in a dramatic fashion. It was identical to the treatment that Fathers Phil and Dan Berrigan and their allies have received in American courts for the last forty years in their challenges to American military policy by committing minor property offenses by symbolically "beating swords into plowshares." In politically sensitive cases, judges go to great lengths to prevent criminal defendants from explaining why they resisted unlawful government acts.

    Judge Settle's order scolds Judge Head like a schoolboy in disgrace. The order carefully illustrates that no one was confused about the pretrial agreement. The record reflects that the government and the defense agreed on that point. Nor did Lt. Watada ever "confess" his supposed guilt. To drive the point home, the order adds that even confusion or confession would not have been grounds to stop the trial. The order goes on to emphasize that there was no manifest necessity to stop the trial, and that Judge Head never weighed any feasible alternatives.

    The Army made an example of Lt. Watada. The lieutenant is feared by Judge Head and the Army prosecutors. He portrays the courage it takes to honor one's oath to defend the Constitution.

One Eighty For Peace

Join PJALS, KYRS, Need to Know, and Veterans for Peace for a Veterans Day Funeral March on Monday, November 12, at noon. We’ll meet at the Community Building and, accompanied by the P-Jammers, we’ll walk to the Spokane offices of our Congressional Delegation to deliver coffins and a petition to stop all the killing.

 

   

 

 

James E. Mitchell and John Bruce Jessen...key developers of the interrogation program
corporate headquarters in the American Legion Building, 108 N. Washington, Suite 205

...tactics that had been designed by Mitchell and Jessen, road-tested in the C.I.A.'s black sites, and adopted in Guantánamo were being used in Iraq as well.

Senate Armed Services Committee has been probing the military's alleged mistreatment of detainees...looking specifically at "the accountability of officials for actions or failures to act."

Mitchell and Jessen have become a focus of the investigation...Defense Department...ordered top Pentagon officials to preserve any documents mentioning the two psychologists or their company in Spokane.

"Taxpayers are paying at least half a million dollars a year for these two knuckleheads to do voodoo," says one of the people familiar with their pay arrangements.

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