a sincere voice experiences dismay, and seeks some way to make a difference... rkm -------------------------------------------------------- http://www.ctsastl.org/site/publications_more.php?id=334_0_12_0_M Zero More: A Call for Mass Revolt War anniversaries are dangerous things. As I read about the marches and rallies being planned for this weekend and the coming weeks, and receive myriad requests to add my name to online petitions or to email my representatives, I have one, clear, overwhelming feeling. We cannot afford to "celebrate" yet one more milestone in this horrific "Long War" so quietly. "You brood of vipers! Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees." And the crowds asked him, "What, then, shall we do?" War anniversaries are dangerous things. As I read about the marches and rallies being planned for this weekend and the coming weeks, and receive myriad requests to add my name to online petitions or to email my representatives, I have one, clear, overwhelming feeling. We cannot afford to "celebrate" yet one more milestone in this horrific "Long War" so quietly. The assault these past years' -- 'on Afghanistan, on Iraq, on international laws and treaties, on the environment, on our democracy' -- 'has been so relentless, so sustained, so brazen, that the resistance often looks flaccid and half-hearted by comparison. We appear unconvinced that any of our activity really matters or that we could possibly achieve real results. An attack on Iran is being prepared in full view of us all, another act of international aggression with horrendous implications, and we act as though we are mere passive observers. We're already gearing up for the witty conversations we'll have about Bush incompetence after the bombs fall on Tehran. Who is the we? Most of us, I'd argue. Men and women of goodwill who polls tell us now form a majority, a majority that is growing larger each day. The majority who understand the fundamental role of international law and treaty obligations for our peaceful coexistence on this planet, know that debased language has poisoned our public discourse, and recoil at the violence that the United States continues to unleash. And yet, a majority that acts strangely disconnected and disempowered. I sat down to write a much longer piece, all full of facts and figures, but before I could come up for air, my head was spinning and I was ready to vomit. Such is the toxic effect of the paralyzing propaganda we have come to mistake for oxygen. So, I've opted for the spare and stark. As Flannery O'Connor once counseled, in times of moral eclipse "you have to make your vision apparent by shock' -- 'to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the blind you draw large and startling figures." Here is a grotesque and startling figure: The United States is on a murderous rampage. The inexorable logic of unending, preventive war is now playing itself out, and though armed to the teeth and responsible for launching a series of wars of aggression, our own squeamishness prevents us from gazing directly at the destruction we continue to wreak. The uncounted bodies of nameless Afghan and Iraqi men, women and children lie in heaps while our leaders hasten to pronounce it good. The unnamed languish in our prisons, tortured for our safety. But the rest of the world sees all too clearly' -- 'and these men, women, and children do have names and are being counted. "War is essentially an evil thing," the Nuremburg Tribunal declared. "Its consequences are not confined to the belligerent states alone, but affect the whole world. To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime, it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." The accumulated evil of the whole: detention without charge, trial or hope of release of more than 14,000 Iraqis in prisons across that country and naming it democracy; construction of permanent bases from which our troops quietly order sharply increased and more lethal bombing raids masked by assurances of withdrawal; the wanton destruction of Iraq's infrastructure and pillaging of its economy. And torture. Another startling image: Our democracy is in free fall. This is not mere rhetorical flourish, but rather a statistical reality. Except for the very few' -- 'so few as to be counted on the fingers of a couple hands' -- 'the members of Congress have abandoned control. They have abdicated. Not only can we not expect them to provide checks and balances or to mount an opposition, we can be assured that they are actively participating in our democracy's destruction. After a talk in Binghamton last week, Noam Chomsky was asked a familiar question. "We agree with so much of what you said, but what should we do?" Chomsky was straight. "In Bolivia they don't ask, what can I do, they go ahead and do it." His prescription? "Start acting like you live in a democracy!" He offered this analysis. "The more privilege and wealth and opportunity that people have, the more they feel helpless, because wealth and privilege are associated with massive indoctrination from infancy to make you feel helpless, isolated, incapable of doing anything alone, and so on, but it's just not true." "All that's required is to overcome the democratic deficit," Chomsky argued. "That is, to organize people who are already convinced." So, here is a simple call. Let's begin organizing those who are already convinced that wars of aggression are illegal and immoral and must be stopped. Let's do it with a seriousness and passion that announces the belief that we will prevail. Let's choose a single tool that is readily at hand. Let today mark the beginning of a concerted, thirty-day mass tax revolt. Refuse to pay the taxes you owe. Take the money that you are about to enclose with your 1040 or your quarterly estimated return and put it in an envelope in your desk drawer. Write your representative and senators and tell them that you will provide ZERO MORE to this government until it renounces a policy of aggressive war making. If your taxes are withheld and you don't owe anything right now, complete a new W4 and increase your number of exemptions to reduce or eliminate your withholding. Let your representatives know that you've done it and why. Then issue this call to everyone you know who is already convinced. Pay no taxes, today. This is not tax resistance, this is a tax revolt. This is a tactic. It's a way of putting our communal hand on the one lever over which we have direct control. The endless war of aggression On March 16, the Bush administration released its newly updated national security strategy in which it renewed its commitment to unilateral, aggressive war, cloaked ever so thinly in the language of legitimacy. "If necessary, however, under long-standing principles of self defense, we do not rule out use of force before attacks occur, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack. When the consequences of an attack with WMD are potentially so devastating, we cannot afford to stand idly by as grave dangers materialize." The war on Iraq that was to be a cakewalk' -- 'and would pay for itself' -- 'has robbed the humans of this planet of hundreds of billions of dollars, and even were it to stop this instant, will continue its bloody demands well into the future in care for the victims, combatants and civilians alike. Estimates put the real total cost somewhere between 1 and 2 trillion dollars. The war on Iraq is a brutal war of aggression. German and Japanese leaders hanged for this crime. "No political or economic situation can justify" the crime of aggression, wrote Associate United States Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, the chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Tribunal. "If certain acts in violation of treaties are crimes they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us." Threatening Iran' -- 'in their own words And now, Iran. "We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran," says the administration's March 16th security document. While vowing that the US is committed to diplomacy, it ends with a naked threat of military action. "This diplomatic effort must succeed if confrontation is to be avoided." The rhetoric has been escalating for more than a year. Dick Cheney (Jan 2005): "The Israelis might well decide to act first, and let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards'...' I will never take any option off the table." George Bush (Feb 2005): "This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. Having said that, all options are on the table." George Bush (Aug 2005): "As I say, all options are on the table. The use of force is the last option for any president and you know, we've used force in the recent past to secure our country." Hillary Clinton (Jan 2006): "We cannot take any option off the table in sending a clear message to the current leadership of Iran." Donald Rumsfeld (Feb 2006): "All options, including the military one, are on the table." John Bolton (March 2006): "The ability to deal with the threat of proliferation of nuclear weapons that Iran poses is something that is going to be very important for us to track closely and that's why the President has said repeatedly no options are off the table." Robert Joseph, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control (March 2006) "We are giving every chance to diplomacy to work'...' No options are off the table." Dick Cheney (March 2006): "The Iranian regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course, the international community is prepared to impose meaningful consequences. For our part, the United States is keeping all options on the table in addressing the irresponsible conduct of the regime." Richard Perle (March 2006): "If you want to try to wait until the very last minute, you'd better be very confident of your intelligence because if you're not, you won't know when the last minute is. And so, ironically, one of the lessons of the inadequate intelligence of Iraq is you'd better be careful how long you choose to wait." Condoleezza Rice (March 2006): "We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran. We do not have a problem with the Iranian people. We want the Iranian people to be free. Our problem is with the Iranian regime." What should we do? Tom Porteous, a BBC analyst writes this week in TomPaine.com, "Make no mistake. The current posture and policy of the United States are leading inexorably towards a military showdown with Iran that could have profoundly negative consequences for Iran, for the region and for the United States. For all the studied vagueness and ambiguity of senior United States and European officials, for all the talk of a long diplomatic process, of economic sanctions and political isolation, at the end of this road lies the opening of another front in America's 'Long War'" On March 15, Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies offered an equally sobering assessment, "The Bush administration's rapid escalation of anti-Iran rhetoric in the last few months should not be dismissed as posturing. Some of the attacks, especially Vice-President Cheney's and UN Ambassador John Bolton's speeches to the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee convention, were clearly aimed at least partly at that specific audience. But this administration has a history of carrying out actions widely viewed, even among U.S. elites, as reckless and dangerous." Given the complete collapse of democratic processes in Washington, it is no surprise that Porteous concludes, "So there is no serious debate about the credible alternatives to military action in Iran. The United States is drifting unnecessarily towards military confrontation with the largest and richest state in the Middle East, with grave implications for the future of Western relations with the Muslim world. And everyone is busily pretending that it is not happening." On February 16 the House of Representatives voted 404-4 to condemn the Government of Iran for violating its international nuclear nonproliferation obligations and expressing support for efforts to report Iran to the United Nations Security Council. New censures are in the works in both the House and Senate. Speaking of Iran, John McCain told a panel, "I don't know of any carrot that works." Asked whether Congress had the political will to use military force against Iran if necessary, Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist said: "The answer is yes, absolutely." No reader of this piece doesn't already know more than enough. What is left is to act. Enough! ZERO MORE! Richard Perle is right' -- 'in the face of imperfect intelligence we cannot wait to act. Now is the time to mount our revolt. As you put your name on the next petition, or take yourself to another rally or march, I urge you to also pledge ZERO MORE. Take whatever you currently owe the government and put it in your bottom drawer. Tell the IRS, your representatives, Bush, and anyone who will listen to you that you will contribute ZERO MORE to this global madness and that your money will stay in your drawer as long as it takes to bring our government under control. If you are about to enclose a check with your 1040, send a note for ZERO MORE instead. Likewise your estimated quarterly tax. Your telephone tax. This doesn't require a long-term plan. You don't have to arrange the rest of your life around tax resistance. But if you are serious about bringing the killing and destruction to an end, pledge ZERO MORE now. This is a tactical decision. Serve notice to elected representatives that there will be no more money to spend until the United States joins the civilized nations of the world who respect international laws and treaties. This is a simple tactic. In the next thirty days we will organize the already convinced. After you have put your own tax dollars in your bottom drawer, talk with ten people you know who are already convinced and persuade them to do the same. Then get the message out. Paint a red Z on your front window and tell passersby what it means. Hang a ZERO MORE banner from an overpass. Take to the streets this weekend with ZERO MORE leaflets. Make sure that everyone taking part in a vigil, rally, march, protest, or demonstration has heard the ZERO MORE call and get them to join the revolt. If you have ever written a blog entry denouncing the Bush administration's wars, put your tax dollars in a drawer today and blog about that. Inclined to write a letter to the editor? Fine. Withhold your tax dollars and write about that. If you are a lawyer who has worried about the assault on international law and domestic freedoms and have perhaps even written about it, put your tax dollars in a drawer and let your colleagues know. If you are a medical professional and are outraged by the complicity of doctors in the torture of prisoners, pledge ZERO MORE, tell ten others you've done it and ask them to join you. If you belong to a military family and want the troops home now, pledge ZERO MORE, and spread the word. If you've taken part in a conversation with a colleague, friend or relative any time over the past five years lamenting the wars of aggression and demise of democracy, pledge ZERO MORE, and gain the commitment of those same conversation partners. By April 15 how many will have joined this mass revolt? And by April 29, when the next big demonstration is planned for New York City, will the tens of thousands who gather in the streets be a potent sign of the revolt that has been launched? I am starting my conversations today; beginning with members of the Center for Theology and Social Analysis, close friends, neighbors, and colleagues. I'll let you know where we stand one week from now. Will you pledge ZERO MORE today and spread this call? Go to http://www.zeromore.net to download a page to share. Withhold your taxes today. Posted by: Andrew Wimmer on Mar 16, 06 -- -------------------------------------------------------- Escaping the Matrix website http://escapingthematrix.org/ cyberjournal website http://cyberjournal.org blog: cyberjournal forum http://cyberjournal-rkm.blogspot.com/ blog: Achieving real democracy http://harmonization.blogspot.com/ blog: for readers of ETM http://matrixreaders.blogspot.com/ blog: Community Empowerment http://empowermentinitiatives.blogspot.com/ Blogger made easy http://quaylargo.com/help/ezblogger.html subscribe cyberjournal list mailto:•••@••.••• Posting archives http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?lists=newslog
