Noam Chomsky to be on UFPJ conference call 2/26

Dear UFPJ Supporter,

We are very pleased to invite you to join a call with Noam Chomsky, one of the leading critics of U.S. foreign policy. He has agreed to do a one-hour discussion with United For Peace and Justice next Thursday, February 26. More specifically, he will be available to answer questions about any number of current foreign policy issues.

Because we expect a great deal of interest in this call, we have set up a system for you to sign up in advance. It's real easy, see below for details. In addition to this being an incredible opportunity to hear from the most prominent left scholar of his generation, this call will also be a fund raising event for UFPJ. We are asking each person who signs-up to make a donation of $10 -- although larger donations are certainly appreciated as well.

There is limited space on this conference call, so please sign-up immediately before space runs out! Again, see below for details.

The conference call will take place on Thursday, February 26. It will begin at 8:30 PM EST (please adjust for your time zone) and will run for one hour.

Since there will be many people on the call, it will not be possible to open up to questions on the spur of the moment. Instead, we are inviting you to submit your questions in advance, and no later than Wednesday, February 25 at 12 noon EST. Submit your question by sending an email to organizing@unitedforpeace.org -- and you must include your name, the name of your group, and that this is a question you would like to pose to Noam Chomsky.

We will sort through the questions submitted and pull out five questions that reflect the issues people raise. We will then inform those people who have been selected so they can raise the questions during the call. Below are some suggestions for areas you might want to submit questions on.

Before the call, we will make sure everyone who has signed-up gets the call-in number.

peace,

Leslie Cagan
National Coordinator, UFPJ

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To sign up for the call:

1) Click here to be taken to UFPJ's Donation Page. http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/302/t/6687/content.jsp?content_KEY=1553

2) Fill out the form with your $10 (or more) donation (donations less than $10 will not be accepted for the Chomsky call).

3) Under the tab 'Please Direct My Donation Towards...', select 'Chomsky Conference Call'. That will let us know the donation is for the call, not just a regular donation -- so this is very important for you to do!

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We suggest you submit questions on any of these issues:

1) What the U.S. doing in Afghanistan and the relationship between U.S. policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan

2) The Israeli/Palestinian situation and what the current Gaza crisis tell us about the larger dynamic of Israeli-Palestinian relations -- what we might expect to see from the Obama administration in relation to this issue

3) Changes throughout Latin America and how the U.S. is relating to those

Of course, you should feel free to submit any questions related to foreign policy.

There is a peace movement in Afghanistan. They’ve had conferences calling for an end to violence, recommending that all parties negotiate, including Taliban. Give money for aid only. Involve Iran, Russia, Pakistan, India. Karzai is out of favor. First message to Obama was to end the bombing and wants a timetable for foreign troop withdrawal.

What are fundamental reasons behind US policy?

There is a pipeline connection. The US is trying to isolate Iran also. India would like an Iran-India pipeline but not the main issue. The main driver is Afghanistan’s location. Bin Laden was the original excuse. FBI has not found evidence—most planning for 9-11 done in the US and Europe. Most popular figure in 2001 was Najibullah.

Division between Afghanistan and Pakistan is arbitrary and cuts through Pashtun area and has never been accepted by the locals.


Will US policy in Palestine change with Obama?

Amnesty International has called for embargo on Israel. His first foreign policy press conference state that the prime directive was defense of Israel. What is important is what he does not say, that the Arab League proposal is a two-state solution with original Israeli border which is a precondition for recognizing Israel. Obama will continue the rejectionist stance that has been going on for years. US vetoed this solution proposed by Arabs as far back as 1976. January 2001 came close to a settlement, but Israel called off the negotiations. People who care about peace must get the facts out and mobilize the population, which most US citizens agree with.

What about the divestment campaign?

Divest from US corporations profiting from support of Israel proposed by Hampshire University. Some formulations are just gifts to jingoists—divesting from Israel per se. South African boycott was after just about all Americans agreed that apartheid had to go.

Phased withdrawal from Iraq

What has happened is that Iraqis has achieved a non-violent resistance success in Iraq. The US has been forced to back down. US tried to block elections, but did not succeed. SOFA means giving up bases, if adhered to. This is on paper only though. The country has been physically destroyed. 740,000 widows in Iraq according to NYT. We should be paying reparations for treatment of Iraq dating back to the 80s.

Nuclear weapons

Kissinger and others are now in favor of eliminating nuclear weapons. Majority of US population agrees that Iran has the right to develop nuclear power, but not nuclear weapons, and a nuclear free zone in the whole area. Pakistan is the most dangerous country in the world. Reagan promoted Islamisation there. US has promoted violation of non-proliferation agreement in India.

Gorbachev made a major concession in letting a unified Germany join NATO, on the condition that NATO not expand eastward. Biden has stated that the US will continue to threaten Russia. Goal of NATO should expand and protect pipelines and sea lanes, which would make it a worldwide police agency.

Latin America

Cuba is one of the most frequent victims of terrorism. The godfather does not brook disobedience, despite disagreement by majority of the population, including business interests. For the first time, Latin American is moving toward independence and integration. Union of South American Republics met in Chile to deal with the undermining of Bolivian democracy. They strongly supported Bolivia (including Columbia too). Morales thanked the group for taking a stand against outside interference.

We don’t know what the Obama administration is going to do. Not much to say about Latin America.

Relations with China and world financial crisis

Clinton was basically pleading with China to lend more and buy T-Bills, and build domestic consumption. Roots are in the financialization of the economy and deregulation. There must be significant international cooperation to overcome market fundamentalism.

Holding the Bush administration accountable

Commission vs prosecution? The first step is understanding what happened. Too much complicity in both parties to have the lid lifted on government crimes, so it probably won’t happen. We don’t have enough democracy yet to force punishment on the powerful. Set up commissions ourselves rather than relying on those in power.