Tulsa Peace Fellowship

There never was a good war or a bad peace. ~Ben Franklin

Truth in Recruiting | Tulsa Peace Fellowship's counter-recruitment update/digest for February 2009

Truth in Recruiting
Tulsa Peace Fellowship's counter-recruitment update/digest for February 2009

lead story:
Recruiting stand-down ordered
--probe of recruiter-suicides in Houston Battalion prompts wide-ranging action for entire U.S. Army
--unfortunately, the stand-down is only for 1 day

quote:
"Sometimes, problems stemming from a soldier’s experience in the war zone may not present themselves immediately. The four military recruiters who killed themselves were all combat veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan."

fact:
Almost 50 percent of prospective military recruiters are not fully vetted by their chain of command, as required by USAREC

page one:

Marine suicides in 2008 at a yearly high since Iraq invasion
--More active-duty Marines committed suicide last year than any year since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003
--Also revealed, soldier-suicides in U.S. Army rise in proportion to the amount of time spent in combat

Neocons Want to Bring Back the Draft
--pro-war video segment, on FoxNews (where else?)

file under: the increasingly-aerial occupation
Obama orders U.S. Air Force drone to bomb two Pakistani villages, killing 16 civilians
--remote killing by mindless drones, signals escalation and lack of boundaries for Afghanistan deployment
--U.S. President Obama stands accused of ordering a war crime, by Prof. Juan Cole (Michigan)

related story:
U.S. General in Afghanistan declares war on dirt-poor farmers
--General Craddock, also a top NATO official at the moment, declares 'war on drugs' on other side of the globe
file under: Losing hearts & minds

page two:
under the rubrics: Court Cases, Victims' Rights, and U.S. Military Offenders/Mercenaries

U.S. Veterans say CIA tested drugs, mind control on them

quote:
"Their idea of testing a gas mask was to give you a faulty one and put you in a gas chamber. It was just diabolical."
~Frank Rochelle, 60, U.S. Army Veteran

The Veterans Affairs Department pays $20 million to veterans for exposing them to possible identity theft
--VA lost their sensitive personal information, in 2006 SNAFU
--class-action lawsuit, on behalf of all veterans, sought $1,000 in damages for every veteran whose information was compromised

follow up: violence against women in the military
CBS Evening News Investigates Staggering Domestic Violence Numbers When U.S. Soldiers Return From Iraq, Afghanistan
file under: reasons not to marry into the military
includes videolink: "Abused Military Wife Speaks Out" (interview by Katie Couric)

factoid:
Some 33% of service-women and 6% of servicemen say they've been victims of sexual abuse in the ranks


backpage:
Damages May Be Awarded to Unwitting Military Test Victims
--file under: 'We were guinea pigs'
--Nuclear test vets challenge Britain in court

Earthjustice attorney in Honolulu may sue the U.S. Navy over sonar threat to whales
--Navy gets 1-year extension from U.S. Fisheries Dept to train with sonar off Hawaii

Former top military brass say nuclear deterrent useless
--UK Trident submarine nuclear missile system is in breach of the Non-Proliferation Treaty

upcoming event: alternatives to military enlistment
The Tulsa Peace Fellowship hopes to host James Branum, military lawyer working on CO cases nationwide
--other local resources on Conscientious Objection will also hopefully partake
--date and time TBA

upcoming event: protest songs for peace activists
The Tulsa Peace Fellowship hopes to host Tim Neilson, songster/activist on nationwide tour
--the singer/composer is scheduled for Tahlequah UU on March 26th 2009
--planned appearance in Tulsa, on March 27th 2009
--venue, date and time in Tulsa are all TBA

upcoming event: "held over" screening @ Circle Cinema, in Tulsa
Film screening of "Dalai Lama Renaissance" in cooperation with Tulsa Interfaith Alliance.
--Please consider attending one of the 3 "held over" screeenings

Fri-1/30-2:30 pm
Sun-2/1-2:00 pm
Tues-2/3-1:00 pm

A personal journey to transform the world. Narrated by Harrison Ford. The Dalai Lama of Tibet invited 40 of the West's leading, most innovative thinkers in their respective fields to his residence tucked away in the Himalayan mountains of Northern India to discuss the world's problems and how to solve them. What transpired was unexpected and powerful, and was captured by an 18 person, 5 camera film crew during the week-long meeting and exploration of the future of mankind. The result is a gripping, beautiful, and thought provoking documentary.
81 minutes
You can let the TPF membership know that you're attending a screening by providing your RSVP online, at https://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/

Epitaph for this edition of "Truth in Recruiting":

"A great war leaves the country with three armies - an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves."
– German proverb


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Tulsa Peace Fellowship's counter-recruitment update/digest for February 2009
lead story

Recruiting stand-down ordered

Probe of Houston recruiter suicides prompts wide-ranging action
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer, Army Times
Posted : Tuesday Jan 27, 2009

Army Secretary Pete Geren has ordered a stand-down of the Army’s entire recruiting force and a review of almost every aspect of the job is underway in the wake of a wide-ranging investigation of four suicides in the Houston Recruiting Battalion.

Poor command climate, failing personal relationships and long, stressful work days were factors in the suicides, the investigation found. The investigating officer noted a “threatening” environment in the battalion and that leaders may have tried to influence statements from witnesses.

“There were some things found that are disturbing,” said Brig. Gen. Del Turner, deputy commanding general for Accessions Command and the officer who conducted the investigation.

While he declined to discuss what action might be taken, Turner has recommended disciplinary action against battalion- and brigade-level commanders. He declined to discuss what action might be taken. The report was not made public, with officials citing extensive personal information contained in the report.

The one-day stand-down of all 7,000 active Army and 1,400 Army Reserve recruiters will be Feb. 13.

The soldiers will receive training on leadership, a review of the expectations of Recruiting Command’s leaders, suicide prevention and resiliency training, coping skills and recruiter wellness, Turner said.

There were 17 suicides within Recruiting Command between fiscal years 2001 and 2008, said Col. Michael Negard, a Training and Doctrine Command spokesman.

There were more than 500 suicides by active-duty soldiers across the Army from Jan. 1, 2003, through Aug. 31, according to data from the Army G-1. Another 31 cases were pending final determination, as of Aug. 31.

The Army’s suicide rate increased from 12.4 for every 100,000 soldiers in 2003 to 18.1 in 2007, an all-time high for the service.

Recruiting is a very stressful job, said Bret Moore, a former captain and clinical psychologist who served twice in Iraq.
“I know that recruiting duty is one of the most stressful jobs, alongside drill sergeants,” he said. “They have quotas to meet."

full article: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/01/army_recruiting_suicides_012709/


Tulsa Peace Fellowship's counter-recruitment update/digest for February 2009
page 1

Marine suicides in 2008 at a yearly high since Iraq invasion

By Tony Perry
January 13, 2009

More active-duty Marines committed suicide last year than any year since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Forty-one active-duty Marines are possible or confirmed suicides for the year. The rate per 100,000 troops remains about the same due to the Corps' increased size, a report says.

In 2007, 33 Marines committed suicide -- a rate of 16.5 per 100,000 troops.

The Marine suicide rate is also less than that of the Army in 2007 (18.1 per 100,000). The Army suicide figures for 2008 have not yet been released, but officials said late last year they expected the number and rate to increase from 2007.

The suicide rates for the Marines and the Army have been closely tracked because the two services have borne the brunt of the fighting and repeat deployments in the Middle East.

Release of the Marine figures came during a four-day suicide prevention workshop in San Antonio sponsored by the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments.

The keynote address was given by Army Maj. Gen. Mark Graham, who lost one son to suicide and another to combat in Iraq.

"Both of my sons died fighting different battles," he said.

The Marine Corps has several anti-suicide programs, beginning in boot camp, to encourage Marines to watch their buddies for signs that they are considering suicide.

http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/thatseemsfair/latimes0016.html




Neocon news columnist T. Blankley Wants to Bring Back the Draft

January 13, 2009 in News by Eric Garris | 18 comments

Washington Times columnist and former editor Tony Blankley is calling for bringing back the military draft.

Blankley is saying that the problem with US foreign policy is that Americans don’t support it. They must be forced into supporting it, via slavery and coercive taxation.

http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2009/01/13/neocon-blankley-wants-to-bri...



file under: the increasingly-aerial occupation
Obama orders U.S. Air Force drone to bomb two Pakistani villages, killing 16 civilians
--remote killing by mindless drones

Jan. 26, 2009 | Pundits are already worrying that Obama may be falling into the Lyndon Johnson Vietnam trap, of escalating a predecessor's halfhearted war into a major quagmire. What does Obama's first military operation tell us about his administration's priorities?

Obama's first meeting with his team on national security issues focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan, in the course of which the new president is reported to have endorsed the drone attacks.

On Friday, President Barack Obama ordered an Air Force drone to bomb two separate Pakistani villages. Pakistani sources disagreed over whether there had been any foreign fighters at all at the second target, with locals claiming that 10 family members, including women and children, were the only victims.

Obama has committed to dealing with the Taliban problem by increasing the size of the U.S. and NATO troop contingent in Afghanistan, which already stands at more than 50,000, but the plan is facing stiff resistance from NATO allies and their publics.

The Bush administration launched 30 air attacks on targets in Pakistan in 2008, killing 220 persons. The strikes seem to have started in the summer, during the presidential campaign, about a year after candidate Obama began urging this policy. Obama may have pushed Bush -- who had earlier been wary of alienating Pakistan -- to the right.

source: "Obama's Vietnam?" by Juan Cole
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/01/26/obama/
includes photo of supporters of the Pakistani Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami protesting U.S. airstrikes in Pakistan, in Karachi, Jan. 25, 2009.

The professor continues:

Bombing Pakistan unilaterally is illegal in international law where Pakistan has not attacked the United States or where there is no United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing such an attack. Please see the Charter of the United Nations, to which the US is a signatory. If the US had a formal treaty with Pakistan, signed off by the legislatures of the two countries, that permitted hot pursuit of militants from Afghan territory, that would bestow a basic legality on it. But the only warrant for the US to shoot Hellfire missiles into Pakistan and kill Pakistani women and children along with militants, is the Bush Doctrine, which I want to be abolished and which I had understood Obama and his team to object to, as well. Contravening US treaty obligations and international law is a war crime.

http://www.juancole.com/2009/01/cole-marsh-debate-on-obamas-bombing...

For more on the controversy created by the above op/ed pieced by Professor Cole in Salon.com, or at his blog "Informed Comment," consider this discussion by Justin Raimondo, on antiwar.com:

The occasion for the Obama-ite assault on the respected Professor Cole was "Obama's War," a Salon.com piece that questioned the president's announced plan to launch a major escalation of the Afghan war by extending it into Pakistan. As Obama begins to implement this vastly ambitious military campaign, a mindless "you're giving aid and comfort to the enemy" mindset will increasingly dominate the pro-Obama airwaves – yet on the Internet it's a different story, and this is the real playing field on which the future of American politics is being contested.

Don't let the Iraq "drawdown" – if and when it occurs – fool you. Those troops, for the most part, will be transferred to Afghanistan and environs. Bring the troops home? Not a chance.

U.S. military operations in Pakistan are a blatant violation of international law, and the potential blowback is frightening to think about. If we destabilize the government of Pakistan, and radical Islamists take possession of the country's nuclear weapons – I don't even want to think about it. Yet this is a very real danger.

If we are really in for an extended military occupation of Afghanistan, and even parts of Pakistan, let's hear it from the chief: how long, and at what cost? I'm very much afraid, however, that, like a president he increasingly resembles, he's apt to say we must pay any price, bear any burden. How many will follow him into that abyss?

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=14152

related story:
file under: Losing hearts & minds
U.S. Gen. Craddock Determined to Turn War On Taliban Into Open-Ended War on Drugs, on the Other Side of Globe
Top NATO Commander Orders Troops to Kill All Opium Dealers/Growers in Afghanistan, Confuses Farmers with Insurgents

Posted January 28, 2009

The German magazine Der Spiegel has obtained classified documents in which NATO top commander and US General John Craddock, a long-time advocate of steering the international forces in Afghanistan toward fighting the drug export industry, issues a “guidance” advising NATO troops to use deadly force against those involved in the drug industry, even if there is no evidence that the person being killed is actually involved in the insurgency.

In what at the time seemed like an uncharacteristically harsh outburst, General Craddock lashed out at NATO allies in October for their reticence in approving military raids on the drug industry. At this point little of what the general says about Afghanistan, particularly where it involves the drug trade surprises anyone: he seems intent on turning what President Obama is styling as a central front in the war on terror into part of an ill-conceived war on dirt-poor opium farmers in rural Afghanistan.

Indeed, when Gen. Craddock was pushing this plan in the first place the primary concern of those NATO members was that exactly something like this would happen: that engaging the drug trade at all would inevitably divert attention from fighting the insurgency and turn it toward killing random drug dealers and calling them legitimate military targets: alienating the civilian population and creating new enemies.

Even as President Obama looks to escalate the war by doubling the military’s presence, the Taliban has taken over a growing portion of the nation and the international forces are struggling to hold them at bay. It seems hard to imagine that these forces will have either the time or the inclination to launch a separate war on drugs in the midst of what is by most accounts an unmitigated disaster.

http://news.antiwar.com/2009/01/28/top-nato-commander-orders-troops...

related story:
NATO Dramatically Underreports How Many Civilians It Has Killed
January 28, 2009
http://news.antiwar.com/2009/01/28/nato-dramatically-underreports-h...




Tulsa Peace Fellowship's counter-recruitment update/digest for February 2009
page 2 : Court Cases, Law suits against U.S. government

Veterans say CIA tested drugs, mind control on them
By Jay Price - Staff Writer
Published: Sun, Jan. 11, 2009

It was 1968, and Frank Rochelle was 20 years old and fresh out of Army boot camp when he saw notices posted around his base in Virginia asking for volunteers to test uniforms and equipment.

That might be a good break after the harsh weeks of boot camp, he thought, and signed up.

Instead of equipment testing, though, the Onslow County native found himself in a bizarre, CIA-funded drug testing and mind-control program, according to a lawsuit that he and five other veterans and Vietnam Veterans of America filed last week. The suit was filed in federal court in San Francisco against the Department of Defense and the CIA.

The plaintiffs seek to force the government to contact all the subjects of the experiments and give them proper health care.

The experiments have been the subject of congressional hearings, and in 2003 the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs released a pamphlet said nearly 7,000 soldiers had been involved and more than 250 chemicals used on them, including hallucinogens such as LSD and PCP as well as biological and chemical agents. Lasting from 1950 to 1975, the experiments took place at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. According to the lawsuit, some of the volunteers were even implanted with electrical devices in an effort to control their behavior.

"Their idea of testing a gas mask was to give you a faulty one and put you in a gas chamber," he said. "It was just diabolical."

The tests lasted about two months. Later, Rochelle was sent to Vietnam.

Now he's rated 60 percent disabled by the VA, he said, and has struggled to keep his civilian job...

A big goal of the lawsuit, Rochelle said, is to get the word out to the thousands of soldiers who were tested. Some may have forgotten all about the tests and not know that's why they have health problems now.

jay.price@newsobserver.com or 919-969-8094

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1362418.html




Veterans Affairs agrees to settle for $20 million with veterans in 2006 data theft case

by Hope Yen, AP News
Jan 27, 2009 19:16 EST

The Veterans Affairs Department agreed Tuesday to pay $20 million to veterans for exposing them to possible identity theft in 2006 by losing their sensitive personal information.

In court filings Tuesday, lawyers for the VA and the veterans said they had reached agreement to settle a class-action lawsuit originally filed by five veterans groups alleging invasion of privacy. The money, which will come from the U.S. Treasury, will be used to pay veterans who can show they suffered actual harm, such as physical symptoms of emotional distress or expenses incurred for credit monitoring.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson in Washington must approve the terms of the settlement before it becomes final.

"This settlement means the VA is finally accepting full responsibility for a huge problem that continues to worry millions of veterans, retirees, service members and families," said Joe Davis, spokesman for Veterans of Foreign Wars, which was not involved in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit came after a VA data analyst in 2006 admitted that he had lost a laptop and external drive containing the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of up to 26.5 million veterans and active-duty troops.

According to the proposed settlement, veterans who show harm from the data theft will be able to receive payments ranging from $75 to $1,500.

http://wire.antiwar.com/2009/01/27/va-agrees-to-settle-for-20m-for-...


follow up on TPF reprots of violence against women in the mainstream:
file under: reasons not to marry into the military

The Hidden Casualties Of War
CBS Evening News Investigates Staggering Domestic Violence Numbers When U.S. Soldiers Return From Iraq, Afghanistan

NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2009 | by Katie Couric

Critics say the military needs to do more about the crime of women being assaulted, beaten, even raped, by their military husbands or boyfriends. A CBS News investigation finds more than 25,000 spouses and domestic partners have been attacked over the past decade. Nearly 90 spouses have died. The numbers are growing.

It can be as deadly as combat: Domestic violence in the U.S. military.

Nineteen-year-old Spc. Brandon Bare is accused of killing his own wife.

Jessacia Patton is a survivor.

"I had bruising on my head, cuts under my eyes and lips and my whole body was like a big bruise," Patton told CBS News anchor Katie Couric.

When Spc. Lenny McIntire returned to Fort Lewis, Wash., his wife says he was a changed man.

After his second tour of duty in Iraq with the Army Rangers, she says he wasn't sleeping and he was filled with anger - especially when his infant daughter would cry.

"Any noise that she made just bothered him," Patton said. "He said it reminded him too much of Iraq and the kids that he shot and the screaming - he couldn't take it, being around it."

That anger turned to violence. He pleaded guilty to child abuse after beating three-month old Bella.

Then, a few months later in a drunken rage, threatening her with a gun, he attacked and raped his wife.

Couric asked her: "What do you think is the major flaw in the way the U.S. military - at least in your experience - deals with domestic violence?"

"When a soldier beats his wife, the wife falls through the crack," she said. "They make it very impossible to get through the system and get anything done."

It wasn't until Lenny McIntire threatened his fellow soldiers and went AWOL that the Army decided to press charges. Three weeks ago, he was sentenced to seven years in a military prison.

CBS News spoke to several military family advocates who say the system is broken, under-funded and under-staffed.

© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc.

full story: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/28/eveningnews/main4761199.s...
includes on-demand video clip:
Abused Military Wife Speaks Out
"Only On The Web:" Katie Couric speaks with dometic violence victim Jessacia Patton about the abuse she faced when her soldier husband returned from Iraq.

Domestic violence and abuse resources, addressing the problem nationwide:

# National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE.

# National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline, LoveIsRespect.org, 866-331-9474

# Family Violence Prevention Fund


Local domestic violence and abuse resource, in Eastern Oklahoma:
# Domestic Violence and Intervention Service (DVIS)

Domestic Violence Intervention Services, Inc.
DVIS/Call Rape
4300 S. Harvard Avenue, Suite 100
Tulsa, OK 74135-2608
918-585-3170 ext. 48
Fax: 918-584-1835
24 hour crisis line: 7HELP-ME
www.dvis.org





Tulsa Peace Fellowship's counter-recruitment update/digest for February 2009
backpage

follow-up: nuclear exposures to military personnel

Nuclear test vets challenge Britain in court

Veterans of 1950s nuclear tests fight for compensation in Britain's High Court

AP News

Jan 21, 2009

Nearly 1,000 veterans of Christmas Island nuclear tests in the 1950s are asking Britain's High Court to hear their case for compensation.

The veterans began a case Wednesday arguing for the right to sue the Ministry of Defense for negligence. Lawyers for the servicemen say the ministry alleges the case should be dropped because too much time has passed.

The defense ministry says it can't comment as the case is continuing.

The servicemen — who are mainly from Britain, New Zealand, and Fiji — believe their high rates of cancer and other health problems stem from the nuclear tests on Christmas Island, off Australia's eastern coast.

The island was the site of a number of tests from 1952 to 1962 as Britain experimented with thermonuclear weapon designs.

Source: AP News


Earthjustice may sue the U.S. Navy over sonar threat to whales

The Associated Press
Published: January 14, 2009

HONOLULU: The U.S. Navy was granted a one-year permit to train with sonar and bombs in Hawaii waters so long as it tries to protect whales and other marine animals from harm.

The Navy warned that whales and other marine life may be harmed, or even killed, though that wasn't expected. Some marine species — particularly beaked whales — appear much more vulnerable to harm from sonar, and scientists are not sure why.

The National Marine Fisheries Service still is considering Navy requests to train with mid-frequency active sonar in waters off Southern California, the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act requires the Navy to ask for the fisheries service's permission to carry out activities that may affect marine mammals.

The authorization that took effect Jan. 5 also allows the Navy to set off bombs and fire guns during Hawaii drills.

It is requiring sailors to shut off sonar when marine mammals are nearby, use extra caution near Maui where humpback whales breed and calve, and avoid detonating explosives within certain areas.

Paul Achitoff, an Earthjustice attorney in Honolulu who has sued the Navy over sonar in the past, said Tuesday that the fisheries service should have required the Navy to do more.

"What the National Marine Fisheries Service is doing is basically the same as the status quo, which is to allow the Navy to conduct sonar exercises with a minimum of precautions," Achitoff said. "The fisheries service has acceded to the demands of the Navy with little critical oversight."

Achitoff said Earthjustice was examining the fisheries service's decision to determine whether it should be challenged in court.

For the past two years, the Pentagon has used another federal law — the National Defense Authorization Act — to exempt the Navy from the permit requirements.
The Defense Department said then that the Navy needed time to study how sonar affects the environment before it sought regulators' permission to use the technology

Scientists say the sound may disrupt the feeding patterns of marine mammals. The sound may also startle some species of whales, causing them to surface rapidly.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/01/14/america/Navy-Whales.php


Former top military brass say nuclear deterrent useless
January 16 2009

LONDON (AFP) – Three retired senior military officers on Friday condemned plans to renew the country's independent nuclear deterrent, saying the Trident system was "completely useless" against modern threats.

"Nuclear weapons have shown themselves to be completely useless as a deterrent to the threats and scale of violence we currently, or are likely to, face -- particularly international terrorism," they wrote in The Times.

The idea of an independent deterrent was redundant, they said, as it was "unthinkable" that Britain would launch its nuclear weapons without the backing and support of the United States.

MPs voted in March 2007 to renew the Trident submarine nuclear missile system, at a cost of about 20 billion pounds, arguing it was an integral part of national defence.

But a significant number of MPs in then prime minister Tony Blair's ruling Labour party opposed the move, arguing that renewing Trident breached the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and was too costly.

The signatories of the letter calling the Trident system "useless" and "redundant" are Field Marshal Bramall, a former head of the armed forces, and retired generals David Ramsbotham and Hugh Beach.

Kate Hudson, chairman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, welcomed the weapons call, saying: "These generals are no pacifists -- they are purely practical about Britain's needs and have concluded that we are better off without them."

The Ministry of Defence said it was committed to a world without nuclear weapons and was working to achieve that goal. It had also reduced the number of warheads it held to the minimum required for deterrence.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090116/wl_uk_afp/britainpoliticsnucle...




Epitaph for this edition of "Truth in Recruiting":

"A great war leaves the country with three armies - an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves."
– German proverb



Tulsa Peace Fellowship's counter-recruitment update/digest for February 2009

further information

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who we are:

The website for the Tulsa Peace Fellowship is:
www.tulsapeacefellowship.org

TPF meets monthly @ Peace House in Tulsa
inside the Unitarian Universalist church at 1314 N. Greenwood Ave, in Tulsa, close to corner of Pine & Greenwood
just north of the OSU-Tulsa campus

If you have not already done so, please join the new social networking tool for TPF on Ning, in lieu of TPFtalks on yahoogroups, which has fallen into disuse Thank you! You can check out our new tool here: https://tulsapeacefellowship.ning.com/ (new for 2009)

Also still going strong: our announcement list on yahoo! tulsapeace@yahoogroups.com (since 2002) Go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/ and search for "tulsapeace"

Through its counter-recruitment task force, TPF is a member of the
National Network in Opposition to the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY)
On the web: http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=v...
Tulsa Peace Fellowship is non-partisan, and is open to 3rd parties, progressive Dems, libertarians, etc. TPF is the activist wing of the peace movement in Eastern Oklahoma "Waging Peace One Person at a Time".

If you enjoyed this news digest and/or found this update useful, please consider making a donation of time, money, or effort to the Tulsa Peace Fellowship. Details on tax status available.

info for TPF counter-recruitment-- contact by phone 918 906 0828

The next regular meeting of the Fellowship
is planned for Thursday, February 12, 6:15 PM – 7:30 PM
--including members from other local non-partisan groups such as the Tulsa chapter of “Season for Non-Violence,” the Tulsa University chapter of Amnesty International, ImpeachOK1.org, TulsaTruth.org, the Center for Racial Justice in Tulsa, and the Tulsa Interfaith Allliance.
--including a meeting of the counter-recruitment campaign activists

Come join us! Especially parents, guardians, and students in the Tulsa Public Schools system who are interested in countering the presence of military recruiters on school grounds.

An archive of TPF counter-recruitment updates and other related TPF material is available to members online:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tulsapeace/
You must sign in to yahoo! groups to see the archived "message history"
TPF messages have been archived online since 2002
TPF was founded some 30 years ago.
Current membership online: 701 subscribers

The information provided in this digest/update herein is for non-profit use only, according to "fair use" doctrine. Copyright and all commercial exploitation rights remain with the various authors/publishers cited above.

Strength Through Peace: Out of Iraq
Accountability: Indict & Imprison Bush & Cheney for War Crimes
JROTC: Out of Our Schools
Schools as Military-Free Zones
Alternatives to War: Department of Peace & cabinet-level Secretary of Peace

dopcampaign_tulsaconnection@cox.net
armywrong@cox.net


THE 10 REASONS

Ten excellent reasons not to join the military:
a.. You May Be Killed, Even By Mistake
b.. You May Kill Others Who Do Not Deserve to Die
c.. You May Be Injured
d.. You May Not Receive Proper Medical Care
e.. You May Suffer Long-term Health Problems
f.. You May Be Lied To
g.. You May Face Discrimination
h.. You May Be Asked to Do Things Against Your Beliefs
i.. You May Find It Difficult to Leave the Military
j.. You Have Other Choices

for more info:
http://www.10reasonsbook.com/medcare.htm

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One reader in OKC comments:

I just want to say how much I appreciate the Truth in Recruiting update that you send out. It is always full of timely, relevant information, and the articles are always properly referenced with links to articles
on the web. The opinions expressed are generally reasonable, I think -- even if they aren't always in step with the conventional wisdom that is held by our political leaders. (That just shows that our political
leaders are often on the wrong track, doesn't it?).

I always feel smarter after I read one of your updates. You provide a valuable service to the peace community in Tulsa and beyond.

I often think many folks in the general public give too much honor to the members of our armed services. In the long run, this over-veneration is not helpful to the warriors. Our soldiers and sailors are human, after all. They make mistakes. They suffer with flawed organizations. Professional military leaders recognize this -- but still the hero worship continues.

There is a lot of compassion for the soldier / sailor in your updates, I think.

Keep up the good work!

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TPF is a registered non-profit organization in the State of Oklahoma, a non-partisan and non-sectarian civic sector organization, devoted to peace, social uplift, and nonviolence.

16 discussions

Book Reviews, Film Reviews, Review Articles

TPF members post reviews, as part of a previously organized monthly book/dvd exchange or other occasional reading circles

10 discussions

Peace Building, Mutual Aid, and Local Grassroots Community Efforts

People to come together to solve shared challenges at the grassroots level. This discussion forum is for events, plans, strategies and tactics to support sustainability and justice, including mutual aid and self-bootstrapping. Put your reviews of peace-promoting games and nonviolent disobedience training here as well.

15 discussions

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