The Bridge

Binghamton's Community Link

20 Years into “War on Terror”

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Will Religious Leaders Finally Speak Out?
On Oct. 7, the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the start of the so-called U.S. “War on Terror,” a group of justice and peace organizations and activists urged leaders of all U.S. religious denominations to end their “shocking” 20-year “near silence” on U.S. government wars.

    Gilroy and Mottern are among the signers of a letter being delivered to clergy around the U.S. Thursday. Gilroy recently wrote the piece “Blessed be the Warmakers? Why Post-9/11 American Religious Leaders Must Atone.”

The letter states: “approximately a million people have died in the Middle East in wars generated by the United States starting on 10/7.”

    “We ask you, we implore you, to vocally object to existing plans for more drone warfare. We urge you to call for an end of the ‘Over the Horizon‘ drone attack plan of our United States government. We ask as well that you speak out in opposition to the political, military, and corporate fear-making depicting China as our new enemy — a fear that is already generating great financial benefit to the Pentagon war contractors.”
    “Praying for the troops was a mantra of all religious groups and music to the ears of the Pentagon and its war contractors,” the peace advocates say. Simply praying for U.S. troops, the letter continues, “enables the war-makers to do their business.”
    Mottern, who is co-coordinator of Ban Killer Drones also notes that U.S. drone attacks are also believed to be striking “Somalia, Niger, Syria, Yemen and Iraq as well as Afghanistan and possibly parts of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan” with minimal attention while “Iran appears to be under intensive U.S. military drone surveillance.”
    A copy of the letter, full list of signers and other material is available on the website of Pax Christi USA.

Nonviolent resistance twice as effective as war

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            I financially support and post pieces on independent media, because I believe mainstream media is part of how militarism remains entrenched in our society.  So when I learned from a recent presentation by Kevin Martin, President of Peace Action National, that The Washington Post published January 18, 2016 an article by Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan entitled, “How the world is proving Martin Luther King right about nonviolence”, I was pleasantly surprised.

          Their book published in 2011 found that when unarmed people used a coordinated set of strikes, protests, boycotts or other actions to confront an opponent, they were more than twice as effective as their violent counterparts when seeking to remove incumbent national leaders or gain territorial independence.  The authors determined that nonviolence campaigns succeeded by developing mass participation which in turn caused major power shifts within the opponent regime through empowering reformers and cutting off hard-liner support.

          In The Washington Post article Chenoweth and Stephan combined data going back to 1900 with data from 2011-2015 to derive more current conclusions, some of which follow –

          1.  Nonviolent campaigns have succeeded 51 percent of the time, while violent campaigns succeeded 27 percent of the time.
          2.  In the present decade there has been a sharp decline in the success rates of both nonviolent and violent resistance – nonviolent succeeded 30 %,     violent succeeded 12% of the time.
          3.  Violent aspects are usually counterproductive when part of nonviolent mass movements.

          Their research indicates that when peaceful uprisings include creative ways that defy expectations, possess collective vision with clear internal rules and have patience; nonviolent actions are more effective than violent ones, even under increased repression.   The research also indicates that opponents to democratic empowerment are adapting to challenges from below.  My takeaway is that our hope, love and solidarity need to remain steadfast.  History is on our side.

Jack Gilroy to be Sentenced

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October 1, 2014, Syracuse, NY. UPDATE

  John “Jack” Gilroy, 79, of Endwell, NY and Upstate Drone Action, was sentenced to three months incarceration,three years probation, and $1000 fine by De Witt (NY) Town Judge Robert Jokl.
  "It's time for our justice system to identify the real criminals…not those who carry the message to stop the killing to the gates of Hancock Air Base," said Gilroy in his sentencing statement.  Gilroy was convicted by a six-person jury on July 15th of trespass and obstructing government administration after a twoday jury trial.
  The trial was based on Gilroy’s participation in a solemn funeral procession and die-in outside Hancock’s main gate. The event symbolized the terrorizing and killing of innocent people by MQ9 Reaper drone missiles and bombs piloted by Hancock’s 174th Attack Wing. Hancock, near Syracuse, is one of many drone bases perpetrating US drone attacks in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere.
"I was proud of the way Jack spoke truth to power, stood for nonviolence instead of war, and brought the reality and names of victims of drones into the court," said Fr. Tim Taugher, Gilroy’s long-time friend and pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Binghamton.  "Our courts can't allow the truth to be heard. This is one of many ways our country is trying to squelch truth, debate, dialogue, and discussion of the morality of the use of drones.”

  Immediately upon sentencing  Gilroy, a military veteran and retired high school teacher, was taken in handcuffs to Jamesville Penitentiary  [http://www.ongov.net/correction/visitingHours.html].

Jack Gilroy, 79, Broome County Peace Action Board member and longtime activist who has Honorable Discharges from both the US Navy and US Army will be sentenced by Judge Robert Jokl on Wednesday, October 1st at 4:30 PM at the DeWitt Court House, 5400 Butternut Drive, East Syracuse, NY 13057-8509. 

Gilroy was convicted of trespass and obstructing government administration for his participation in a solemn funeral procession and die-in at Hancock Killer Drone base where missiles and bombs are fired via satellite just sixty miles away from Broome County.  The maximum penalty is one year and 15 days in Jamesville Penitentiary. 

Gandhian waves of nonviolent resisters to drone warfare by the 174th Attack Wing of the Hancock Air Force National Guard has been ongoing for the past five years. His trial was based on his participation in an April 28th 2013 solemn funeral procession and die-in to illustrate the death and destruction of innocent people by drone missiles and bombs fired out of Hancock Air Force Base. Hancock is one of many drone bases around the United States doing assassinations of Muslim suspects in foreign nations. 

Gilroy had an opportunity to plead guilty without penalty but noted that “the guilty are not those who carry the message to stop the killing.”   He and others who have been arrested at the gates of the 174th Attack Wing all have taken oaths of non-violence. Gilroy and many others believe the United States extrajudicial killing of suspects is not only immoral and illegal but has become the premier recruiting tool for terrorists. 

For more information on this issue please call Jack at 754-8105

 

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