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Ann Wright is a 29-year US Army/Army Reserves veteran, a retired United States Army colonel and retired U.S. State Department official, known for her outspoken opposition to the Iraq War. She received the State Department Award for Heroism in 1997, after helping to evacuate several thousand people during the civil war in Sierra Leone. She is most noted for having been one of three State Department officials to publicly resign in direct protest of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Wright was also a passenger on the Challenger 1, which along with the Mavi Marmara, was part of the Gaza flotilla. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. In December, 2001 she was on the small team that reopened the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is the co-author of the book "Dissent: Voices of Conscience." She has written frequently on rape in the military.
(9 comments) SHARE Saturday, September 5, 2020 War Is A Disaster, Not A Game
The U.S. is in no position to be an enforcer of peace building. Domestically, the U.S. policing system has proven abusive and broken. Similarly, the U.S. posture as "the world cop" has likewise proven expensive, unaccountable and ineffective for international peace.
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, July 17, 2013 The Role of Dissent in National Security, Law and Conscience
We now know the lengths to which Bush administration officials went to ensure the silence of those who opposed their policies, by classifying controversial and illegal policies and operations. As a result, anyone trying to challenge those policies in public automatically risked being charged with revealing classified information.
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, August 31, 2013 Possible Consequences of a U.S. Military Attack on Syria
At this time of crisis, it is worth remembering another time, 30 years ago in October, 1983 when U.S. warships bombarded Lebanon, the country located next to Syria. Within weeks, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by a massive truck bomb that killed 241 American servicemen: 220 Marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, June 1, 2012 Turkish Court Indicts Senior Israeli Military Officials in Murders of Nine Gaza Freedom Flotilla Passengers
a court in Istanbul, Turkey, voted unanimously to approve an indictment against Israel's former military chief Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, as well as for Eliezer Marom, Amos Yadlin, and Avishai Levi, the former heads of the Israeli Navy, Air Force Intelligence, and Military Intelligence. If convicted, each faces nine consecutive life terms in prison for "inciting to kill monstrously, and by torturing."
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, December 14, 2018 Will Muslim Countries Malaysia or Indonesia help Palestinians in Thailand?
Many are now in detention facilities in Bangkok as the Thai government has cracked down on thousands of people of all nationalities that have continued to stay in Thailand past their visa dates. In the case of Palestinians, they have nowhere to go as the refugee camps in Syria they call home are still very dangerous.
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, March 21, 2019 Korea Peace Now! Cooperation Continuing Despite Stalled Dialogue With US
While U.S.-North Korean contact is stalled, relations between North Korea and South Korea continue to increase. A a consortium of four international women's groups launched Korea Peace Now, a worldwide campaign for peace on the Korean peninsula, during the United Nations' Commission on the Status of Women, the week of March 10, 2019.
SHARE Wednesday, February 12, 2014 Nuclear Submarines, Whales and Tourists Don't Mix
In late January, 2014, the National Resources Defense Council filed a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service for violation of multiple federal laws by allowing the Navy to increase sonar and live-fire training in Hawaii and California for the next five years.
SHARE Friday, September 24, 2021 No Aloha for Assassin Drones That Have Arrived in Hawai'i
The world was horrified by Hellfire missile fired from a U.S. military drone that caused the August 29, 2021 deaths of 10 innocent civilians, including seven children, in a family compound in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, November 23, 2011 Delegates Issue Appeal for the End of the Siege of Gaza--No US Congresspersons involved
This week, 70 delegates from 20 countries, including Parliamentarians from 11 countries, have seen the disastrous effects of the 22-day Israeli attack on Gaza two years ago and the five-year naval and land blockade on Gaza. The trip was organized by the Council for European Palestinian Relations.
(2 comments) SHARE Monday, August 9, 2021 Military should return Hawaii lands
The 65-year leases of 30,000 acres of Hawaii state land by the U.S. military are ending in 2029. The state of Hawaii should not re-lease these lands no matter what the amount the U.S. military offers.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, May 8, 2012 The Dark Side of the Prestigious Marine Barracks
The Marine Barracks has its dark and ugly side. It is also the home of officers and enlisted men of the Marine Corps who have been accused of sexually harassing, assaulting and raping female Marine officers and enlisted and civilian women who work there.
(3 comments) SHARE Saturday, March 4, 2017 U.S. Experts Say North Korean Government is NOT Irrational and Call for Talks
If the international community really wants to resolve the tensions on the Korean Peninsula and give the North Korean people a chance to rejoin the community of nations, a peace treaty that gives North Korea the assurances it needs for its survival is the first -- not the last -- step.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, March 4, 2022 Please Don't Hate Us For What Our Government Leaders Have Done, Say Russians
..We Didn't Hate You For What Bush Did to Iraq!
As hard as it might be for some, I plead that we not vilify Russians for the actions of their political leaders. I hope that we can be as generous to peace-seeking Russians as the world was to anti-war Americans.
(4 comments) SHARE Tuesday, May 29, 2007 What Congress Really Approved: Benchmark No. 1: Privatizing Iraq's Oil for US Companies
We finally have the reason for the US invasion of Iraq: to get easily accessible, cheap, high-grade Iraq oil for US corporations.Now the choice is for US military personnel and their families to decide whether they want their loved ones to be physically and emotionally injured to protect not our national security,but the financial security of the biggest corporate barons left in our country - the oil companies.
(16 comments) SHARE Thursday, March 14, 2019 American and Iranian Hardliner Ideologies Continue to Cause Suffering of Iranian People
Hardliners in both the Iranian and the U.S. governments make the opportunity for dialogue and negotiations very difficult resulting in the people of Iran continuing to suffer the burden of both Iranian and American ideologies and politicians that have returned international relations to a standstill.
SHARE Thursday, December 13, 2018 Delegates Who Faced Israeli Violence Before the 2018 Gaza Freedom Flotilla -- Dr. Swee Ang and Navy Veteran Joe Meadors
Two persons, Joe Meadors and Dr. Swee Ang, who personally faced Israeli violence in the past, faced violence again on the Al Awda ship in the 2018 Gaza Freedom Flotilla that challenged the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza in July 2018. Dr. Swee is back home in London, UK, and Joe Meadors is at home in Corpus Christi, Texas, both ready to go on the next mission to challenge the Israeli blockade of Gaza.