This morning, I sent this letter to President Obama:

"Mr. President:

I am writing to urge you to announce an immediate cease-fire followed by a withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan in the fastest way consistent with the safety of our forces.

I urge you to end the use of Predator drones that kill civilians.

I call upon you to cease all covert operations in Africa, Asia, and North and South America.

Too many of your military advisors are implicated in torture, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against the peace. Your Justice Department operates at the zenith of injustice, defending Bush Administration criminality in U.S. Courtrooms.

I wrote to you earlier suggesting that if you did not investigate the crimes of the Bush Administration, you would be viewed as their accessory. Sadly, war crimes and torture are now committed with your name on them.

Please bring our troops home now."

A peace demonstration is being organized for December 12, 2009 in Washington, D.C. The Emergency Anti-Escalation Rally, also known as the End US Wars Rally, is scheduled for 11am at Lafayette Park at the White House. I wholly endorse this rally and encourage all who can to participate in Washington, DC or to help a local peace organization committed to ending U.S. wars on that date.

For more information about the Washington, D.C. December 12, 2009 demonstration, please visit www.endUSwars.org, currently under construction.

P.S. President Obama's Department of Justice, unlike President Clinton's that refused to even prosecute, just took Lynne Stewart to prison and is trying to extend her sentence from 28 months to 3O years. Please take a moment and write a letter of encouragement to Lynne Stewart, the people's attorney, who is now Prisoner #53504-054 at MCC-NY. Her address is:

Lynne Stewart
53504-054
MCC-NY
150 Park Row
New York, NY 10007
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The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. military indicates this:

http://news.antiwar.com/2009/11/08/mullen-nuclear-iran-an-existential-threat-to-israel/
Mullen: ‘Nuclear Iran’ an Existential Threat to Israel
Admiral Open to US Attack, Concedes War Would Be Incredibly Destabilizing
by Jason Ditz, November 08, 2009
Email This | Print This | Share This | Comment | Antiwar Forum

Speaking today at the National Press Club, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen declared that “it’s very clear to me that a nuclear weapon in Iran is an existential threat to Israel.”

Adm. Mullen has repeatedly met with Israel’s military chief Gen. Ashkenazi, and says foiling Iran’s nuclear program is “the number one priority for Israel.” This has been underscored in recent days as Israel has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran.

But while Admiral Mullen said he still wanted President Obama to continue with diplomacy, he was fully prepared to see the US attack Iran to prevent a nuclear Iran from “undermining the stability” of the Middle East. At the same time, Mullen admitted that attacking Iran itself “would also be incredibly destabilizing.”

Though Western officials have repeatedly issued warnings about Iran’s nuclear program, the IAEA has repeatedly certified that none of Iran’s uranium has been enriched to anywhere near weapons-grade level and that none of it is being diverted to anything but civilian use.
* * * * *
Clearly, with Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia already on fire from U.S. drones; an increase in U.S. military presence in Colombia; U.S. troops still in Iraq; NATO- and UN-condoned occupations; the U.S. shadow looming large in the Honduras coup; and saber-rattling like this against Iran, peace is nowhere near at hand--despite the Nobel Peace Prize Committee's findings and the hopes for change of the American people.  That's why I signed this letter to President Obama, drafted by Laurie Dobson who can be reached at lauriegdobson@yahoo.com.  Contact her if you want to sign it, too.  Here's Laurie's letter:

OPEN LETTER FROM THE PEACE MOVEMENT TO PRESIDENT OBAMA ON HIS UPCOMING DECISION REGARDING THE AFGHAN WAR

Dear Mr. President:

According to press reports, you intend to decide between November 7 and November 11 whether or not to send tens of thousands of American soldiers to Afghanistan. We are writing in advance of that decision to add our voice to those of Sen. Feingold, many House Democrats, and of a clear majority of
Americans in urging you not to escalate this war, but rather to announce an immediate cease-fire followed by a withdrawal of all US troops in the fastest way consistent with the safety of our forces. We urge you to end the policy of using Predator drones to assassinate Pakistani civilians on the territory of their own country, in defiance of all concepts of international law. We also call upon you to cease all covert CIA and Pentagon operations in Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and Iran.

No vital American interest is at stake in Afghanistan. Former Marine and State Department official Matthew Hoh is right: the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan have come to be viewed as invaders and occupiers, and the resistance they encounter has nothing to do with international terrorism. This war is futile, and now doomed to failure. There is no military solution to the problems that beset Afghanistan. Afghanistan and the rest of this tragically war-torn region need a Marshall Plan of peaceful economic development, through which some of the 15 million unemployed workers in our own country could find productive jobs. We have no confidence in the advice being given to you by military leaders like Gen. McChrystal, who has been implicated in torture in Iraq.

We supported your candidacy because we viewed you as the best chance for ending the wars of the Bush era. We applauded your rejection of the rhetoric of fear and division that was the stock in trade of Bush and Cheney. We are alarmed by the way that rhetoric has crept into your public pronouncements since your August address in Phoenix. Your decision on Afghanistan will represent the decisive turning point of your presidency. If you turn away from war, you will provide a profile in courage that will solidify your support and open up a new perspective for progressive reforms in our country. You will honor the spirit of John F. Kennedy, who was searching for an exit strategy from the Vietnam war. If you opt for a wider war, the resulting heavy casualties will destroy confidence in your leadership among your own most devoted advocates. Hundreds of billions of dollars will be poured down a rat hole, and will no longer be available for any reform and renovation of American society, which will increasingly fall behind the economic strength of other countries. Your domestic agenda will be halted, in the same way your predecessor Lyndon B. Johnson was crippled by the Vietnam war. Escalation of the Afghan war, in short, would be an act of political suicide for you, and of national suicide for our country.

We are keenly aware of the difficulties and animosities you face, and we have long done everything possible to give your administration the benefit of the doubt, even in the face of repeated disappointments. But we now approach the moment of truth: will you be a great progressive president, or will you prove too weak to turn away from the bankrupt policies institutionalized and entrenched under Bush and Cheney. Therefore, we want you to know our attitude before you decide on the proposed Afghan escalation. If you choose to escalate, we will oppose this policy with all the energy we possess. We will act to mobilize the largest possible anti-war demonstration in Washington DC and other cities before the end of 2009, and continuously thereafter. We will support anti-war candidates of any party in the 2010 elections. If you are still waging the Afghan war in 2011, we will be forced to seriously consider backing an explicitly anti-war primary candidate to challenge you during the Democratic primaries.

We therefore respectfully urge you to act in the spirit of your 2008 campaign – the spirit of hope and change, neither of which can survive the continuation or expansion of the hopeless Afghan war.

Cynthia McKinney, DIGNITY
* * * *
My sister, Cindy Sheehan, is planning a camp in DC similar to Camp Casey.  Here's what Cindy has in the works:

"We will begin to set Camp up on March 13th-14th on the Ellipse and this will be the staging area and camping area for people coming to DC to take part in the Action.

We will have a contest to have a name for the Camp. Send your suggestions to me at: CindysSoapbox@gmail.com.

There are many tent cities springing up around the country and we believe that our suffering should not be hidden from those that caused it so we will set up right under their criminal noses.

Come to our Camp for food, basic shelter and lots of warm community.

We are including social services, entertainment and education pieces in our Camp life.
HOW TO SIGN UP/GET MORE INFO

The website with online sign-ups could be online as soon as tomorrow evening.
WHEN WILL WE BEGIN?

I had originally intended to begin Peace of the Action when we had 5000 people committed to joining us, but now we will begin on March 23rd no matter how many have signed up, to partner with the ANSWER Coalition's March 20th anti-war march (7th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq) and World Can't Wait's events on Friday, March 19th. We truly believe that this is going to be such an amazing and energizing action that if we build it you will come."

* * * *
And finally, we have the route for our cross-country "bike ride for peace" all worked out.  You can click here to study the map:  http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=106454352652415594542.00047596dcee9c0ed3f74&z=4.

You can click here to check out our schedule for riding:
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=l9jftjjgmq72fknhmm6vui2m5s%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America%2FLos_Angeles&gsessionid=KepLf43gH_h-pvxEa7n9Yw

Let me hear from those of you who are interested in riding all or part of the way with us!


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Tune in http://www.LiveStream.com/Dignity at 11am ET Sunday, October 25 and Monday, October 26, to witness an historic coming together of people from around the world planning a global effort to discuss dolutions to the problems of imper......ialism, racism, war and genocide, and poverty and oppression.

Grassroots activists from around the world will present the ideas of their own communities aimed at solving the massive problems those same communities are facing. Tune in and leave your ideas so they can become a part of the record at this event

A Message From Mike Ruppert by Cynthia McKinney, October 22, 2009
Hello!  As many of you know, Mike Ruppert is singularly responsible for confirming from the inside what many of us on the outside knew:  that the black community didn't have the infrastructure to import and distribute crack cocaine from which it still reels today, but the CIA did.
Mike was on it on September 11th!  And explained it to us in his book, "Crossing the Rubicon."
Mike is on it in his film CoLLapse, and explains it to us in his new book, "A Presidential Energy Policy."
Mike has taken many bullets for us, so that we may know the truth.  Now, several more have been fired at him, but we must deflect them and not allow them to (do what they want to do with all of us with targets on our foreheads and) put this warror down. Mike needs our help.  Here's what he sent out yesterday:
Please Distribute Widely
ARKANSAS PUBLISHER REFUSES TO PUBLISH RUPPERT BOOK CITING MORAL/ RELIGIOUS OBJECTIONS OVER AUTHOR'S ADVOCACY OF HEMP LEGALIZATION DAYS AFTER ANNOUNCING IT WOULD BE IN BOOKSTORES IN NOVEMBER
CA Presidential Energy Policy will be released November 24, 2009 from Variance Publishing. -- Ascot Media Press Release (for Variance Publishing), Oct. 13th, 2009.
October 21, 2009
On October 19, just six days after issuing a press release announcing that Presidential Energy Policy: Twenty-five Points Addressing the Siamese Twins of Energy and Money be in bookstores on November 24th, Variance Publishing owner Tim Schulte notified me by telephone that his company was refusing to publish the book because Point Twenty-four called for legalization of the hemp plant as a partial solution to the energy and economic crises. Schulte cited moral and religious grounds for his decision. I run a moral and ethical company. I don't allow drug use to be advocated. I don't allow rampant sexuality or profanity in my books, Schulte said.
Schultes reversal came as headline stories around the country were reporting that President Obama had just ordered federal law enforcement agencies to stop raiding medical marijuana facilities in states where its use has been legalized. No prior objections to the point have been raised by the books reviewers who have all offered extensive praise for the work. Personal letters to me from many credible sources have expressed thanks for the book and welcoming it, including one from former President Jimmy Carter.
Schultes decision made it impossible for book buyers to go to book stores and find the book after seeing the critically-acclaimed buzz-film CoLLapse which is scheduled for theatrical and video-on-demand release in November. (Hemp is not mentioned in the film but the film is based upon the book and says so both in the film and on its poster.)
Schulte admitted that he had read the entire book after receiving it in June, felt the hemp objection at the time, but did not object to me because he thought that would be taken care of in editing. He offered no explanation as to how I was expected to rewrite Point Twenty-Four and another small section of the book in the few days left before he was committed to send it to the printer. Schulte added that he was aware that I had an agreement with the books digital publisher New World Digital to have the same book on both ends and that for me to substantively change the book would violate my agreement with New World.
As a matter of principle I refused to remove Point Twenty-four and also said that I would not break the agreement with New World. Schulte then announced that he was voiding the contract because he could. Schulte was unable to offer any other explanation as to why he had waited until the last minute to raise his objection.
In the book I clearly outlined a multitude of uses for the hemp plant as a means to stimulate local food production, for soil restoration and for the plants wide variety of energy-saving uses from nutritional supplements, to lamp oils, to paper, to clothing. None of this makes any sense. Variance had the book for months and had gone to the expense of cover design, layout and issuing the press release before raising the issue.
Variances decision came three weeks after Oregon State Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian issued a misleading and inaccurate press release (for which he later apologized) stating that I had personally been fined in an Oregon sexual harassment case which he had not read and which was filled with legal and ethical errors. I continue to maintain my complete innocence inthat case which is now under appeal. I was never a named defendant in that case.
The only conclusion I can reach is that there is a concerted effort to keep the American people and readers around the world from reading this book. There is only one way to fight back.
OPTIONS  I have been involved in legal battles for five years now. In 2005-06 I fought and won a civil case in California showing that a former employee, Chris Fusco, had deliberately attempted to sabotage From The Wilderness (FTW). From 2006 until now I have spent an estimated $45,000 proving that I did not ransack FTW offices and smash all seven computers while publishing the Pat Tillman exposC3A9 and to fight the harassment charges. I have also fought a malicious and libelous campaign by a local Oregon newspaper to smear my reputation, even after the editor was convicted of having sex with a minor and remains under ongoing investigation for racketeering and fraud.  A legal action will do nothing to get the book into stores in time to benefit from CoLLapses success. I am broke as a result of these non-stop attacks and cannot afford a retainer for yet another lawyer. I am also personally out of energy to engage in another legal battle that cannot solve the immediate problem.
As a result of Variances decision, all rights to the book have reverted to me (except for digital and print-on-demand) rights which belong to New World Digital -- now the only source for this vitally important book which is available from Amazon. Retail book vendors will not buy print-on-demand books because unsold copies cannot be returned for credit. I do not have an agent but will happily talk to any literary agents or publishers who step forward. My original agent was fired for a series of egregious miscommunications.  Any attempt to try and secure a new publisher for this critically-acclaimed book might take months and no publisher could have the book in stores in less than six months. I have decided to focus on the movie as the only way to get around this newest unfounded attack on my lifes work  the only motive for which is to save lives. Widespread reading of A Presidential Energy Policy remains the ultimate objective of all the work I put into CoLLapse. For that I will need help.
NORML  After the developments I immediately contacted the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Yesterday, I taped a radio interview with NORMLs Russ Belville on Variances actions. Please contact NORML as to how you can hear it. If you have contacts in any local NORML chapters please bring this to their attention immediately. This ridiculous attack cannot go unanswered.
FLOOD THE SCREENINGS!  The only way to save the book now is to promote the film. CoLLapse has been mentioned by one critic as an Oscar candidate for the 2011 Oscars. That means it will have a long shelf life. CoLLapse is scheduled for theatrical screenings in the following cities. Full details here.
NOVEMBER 6th - NEW YORK - ANGELIKA FILM CENTER
NOVEMBER 13th - LOS ANGELES - LAEMMLE SUNSET 5
DECEMBER 4th - SAN FRANCISCO - LUMIERE THEATRE
DECEMBER 4th - BERKELEY - SHATTUCK CINEMA
DECEMBER 4th - SAN DIEGO - KEN CINEMA
* MORE DATES COMING SOON!
It is all a matter of numbers. The way to see that CoLLapse gets screened in more theaters, in more cities, and stays there is to flood these screenings. In this country every vote may not be counted but every dollar always is. Long lines at screenings (which will result in some being turned away) will guarantee that additional screenings and theaters will be added. The film, once seen, will inflame public demand to see it. That is the only thing that will provide time to find another way to get the book into stores.
I will likely not see any personal income from the film until December at the earliest. Meantime I am still struggling to raise my November rent. I am incredibly gratified by the response to our pleas for donations to keep a roof over my head and to fight the Oregon appeal. Please send your donations to: either Mike Ruppert (for personal use), or the FTW Legal Defense Fund at 10736 Jefferson Blvd., PMB 618, Culver City California, 90232. For instructions on PayPal and wire transfer please see elsewhere on this blog or the FTW archival site (http://www.fromthewilderness.com).
RUBBING SALT INTO THE WOUND 93 Immediately after talking to Schulte I called Jenna Orkin who runs the blog bearing my name. In less than thirty minutes she sent me back this book excerpt from Variances web site:
Fuck, he muttered to himself, turning off the car's ignition for the third time. Cal wasnt used to being nervous, and he didnt like how it felt. Goddamnit! he said, slamming his hands on the wheels. God-damn you Dan, you asshole!
I am unable to provide a contact phone number because the only phone I have is my home phone. For media and interview requests please send an email to mcrfinaid@gmail.com. We check this on a daily basis. Questions about additional screenings of CoLLapse should be directed to collapse@bluemarkfilms.com. 
Michael C. Ruppert
***********
Cynthia McKinney
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