OFF/ON
Leon Kuhn
Digital Print
London, UK, 2008
31376

President Obama has sent Congress a formal request to authorize military force against the Islamic State six months after the U.S. began bombing Iraq and Syria. The resolution imposes a three-year limit on U.S. operations, but does not put any geographic constraints. It also opens the door for ground combat operations in limited circumstances. The resolution’s broad language covers military action against the Islamic State as well as "individuals and organizations fighting for, on behalf of, or alongside [ISIS] or any closely-related successor entity in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners." The resolution also leaves in place the open-ended Authorization for Use of Military Force Congress enacted one week after the Sept. 11, 2001, which has been used to justify U.S. action in Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, Yemen and beyond, and which Obama had previously called for repealing.

When will we ever learn?

Source:
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/2/12/endless_war_obama_sends_congress_expansive?autostart=true

This Democracynow.org link also contains an interview with Norman Solomon, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and author of many books, including "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death."

Poster of the Week

Obama...Give Me Five!
Jorge Martell, design
Gonzalo Canetti, photo
Digital Print, 2012
Oakland, CA

CSPG's Poster of the Week celebrates the release of the Cuban 5 and Obama's move towards normalizing relations with Cuba.

The Cuban 5, Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and René González, were arrested by the FBI in 1998. All were convicted in 2001 of conspiracy to commit espionage against the United States. The trial was held in Miami, Florida, a center of Cuban exile hostility to the Cuban revolution, where no fair trial was possible.

The Cuban 5 neither committed nor intended to commit espionage against the U.S. They were sent to the U.S. to monitor anti-Cuban terrorist organizations in Miami responsible for bombings and deaths in Cuba.  Since the triumph of the Cuban revolution in 1959, Cuba had been the victim of more terrorist attacks than any other country in the world, killing 3,478 and injuring 2,099. The vastly majority of those attacks originated in southern Florida, by groups tolerated and partly financed by the US government.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review their case in 2009. Fernando González has been on parole since October, 2011 after serving every single day of his 13 year term. René González was released from prison earlier this year, but remained on parole.  To avoid being forced to remain IN MIAMI ON PAROLE, Rene, a natural-born US citizen, had to give up his US citizenship. As of December 17, 2014, after more than 16 years, the 3 remaining members of the Cuban 5 were finally freed and all are now home in Cuba.

Next wish for the New Year:  End the Blockade!

For more information on the Cuban 5:
http://www.thecuban5.org/the-case/

Poster of the Week

Tell your Senators and Members of Congress Not to Attack Syria. Sign the petition:  http://dontattacksyria.com

OFF/ON

Leon Kuhn
Offset, 2008
London, United Kingdom
31376

Poster of the Week

Poster of the Week – February 8, 2012

I have a Dream/I have a Drone

Artist Unknown

Digital image

Circa 2013

CSPG’s Poster of the Week for Black History Month is a powerful visual commentary on the ideals articulated by Martin Luther King, Jr., in contrast with the political agenda pursued by President Barack Obama. This striking image also highlights the content of the confirmation hearings that took place this week, regarding Obama’s nomination of John Brennan to be head of the CIA.

John Brennan is chief counterterrorism advisor to President Barack Obama. Although he had been with the CIA for 25 years, Brennan withdrew his name from consideration for Director of the CIA in the first Obama administration over concerns about his support for the use of torture by the CIA under President George W. Bush. Instead, Obama appointed Brennan to be Deputy National Security Advisor, a position which did not require Senate confirmation.

After Obama nominated Brennan in January 2013 to be the next director of the CIA, the ACLU called for the Senate to not proceed with the appointment until it confirms that "all of his conduct was within the law" at the CIA and White House.

At his confirmation hearing on Thursday, February 8, Brennan forcefully defended Obama’s counterterrorism policies, including the increased use of armed drones and the targeted killings of American citizens.  Jeremy Scahill, author of the forthcoming book, "Dirty Wars," commented on Brennan’s responses on DemocracyNow.org, "None of the central questions that should have been asked of John Brennan were asked in an effective way.  In the cases where people like Sen. Angus King or Sen. Ron Wyden would ask a real question, for instance, about whether or not the CIA has the right to kill U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, the questions were very good. Brennan would then offer up a non-answer. And then there’d be almost no follow-up." Scahill went on to say, "[Brennan] has served for more than four years as the assassination czar, and it basically looked like they were discussing purchasing a used car on Capitol Hill. I mean, it was total kabuki oversight. And that’s a devastating commentary on where things stand."

When will we ever learn?

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_O._Brennan

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/2/8/jeremy_scahill_assassinations_of_us_citizens

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/john-brennan-senate-confirmation-hearing-drone

Poster of the Week

Disappearing Promises
Kaytee Riek and Max Ray
ACT UP Philadelphia
Health GAP
Digital Print, 2009
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

CSPG’s poster of the week comes from the 2009 G20 that took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The day before the G20 began, AIDS activists, dressed in black and marching behind coffins and funeral wreaths, held a funeral procession for the thousands of people with AIDS who have died and will continue to die as a result of the broken promises made by the wealthiest nations regarding global health funding. Activists said that the G-20 nations are using the financial crisis as an excuse to cut promised funding for global AIDS programs. In particular, activists called out President Barack Obama, who promised on the campaign trail to provide $50 billion over five years to global AIDS efforts.

The funeral procession was sponsored by ACT UP Philadelphia, Azania Heritage International, Black Radical Congress of Pittsburgh, Health GAP, Housing Works, New Voices Pittsburgh: Women of Color for Reproductive Justice, NYC AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN), Proyecto Sol Filadelphia and Roots of Promise (a Thomas Merton Center project).

The poster was selected as the 2010 G20 opens this week in Toronto, Canada. Demonstrations have already started, demanding rights for First Nations, people with disabilities, LGBTQ, migrants, immigrants, women, children, and other marginalized communities, and opposing mining tar sands and other acts that contribute to global warming. In preparation for the G20, Toronto has been transformed into a fortress with a three-meter high and six-kilometer long $5.5 million dollar concrete and metal security fence encompassing the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Within and around this armed camp are 20,000 law enforcement officials, 1,000 private security guards, closed circuit TV cameras, military-style checkpoints along with sound and water cannons. Behind these steel cages is a corporate-driven narrative of profiteering. *

History of G20

In 1975, leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, and the US, the world's leading industrialized nations, met as a forum for economic and trade matters. Initially known as the G6, it became known as the G7 and G8 after the respective entries of Canada (1976) and Russia (1998). In 1999, the G20 formed.

The G8s and G20s positive stance on globalization has provoked a vigorous response from opponents. Since 2001, there has been a tendency for the summits to be held in more remote locations, with the aim of avoiding mass protests. The lengths to which security forces have gone to shield the politicians from demonstrators serves to reinforce the summits’ closed-door image.

Countless thousands advocating for global justice gather on the streets every year to protest the closed door meetings of both G8 and G20 summits. As global inequalities continues to rise protests have grown; never at these mass convergences has a single protester serious harmed anyone. In response to the protests, many law enforcement operations have been employed, some of whom use force to disperse protesters. In Genoa, Italy in 2001, police surrounding Carlo Giuliani, a young Italian anarchist, shot him in the face.

*For more information on Toronto’s preparation for the G20 see:

Rabble.ca: Challenging Toronto's corporate security walls
By Harsha Walia and Stefan Christoff

Other sources:

BBC: Profile: G8

Wikipedia: G-20 major economies