WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:03.200 All right, Hi, this is William Ramsey. Welcome to William 2 00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:06.000 Ramsey Investigates on today's show. Have a very special guest. 3 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:08.480 His name is Michael D. Knox. He just published a 4 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:11.240 book January twenty twenty one. The title of the book 5 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:14.640 is Ending US Wars by Honoring Americans who worked for Peace. 6 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:17.559 I think it's a very important book, very timely book, 7 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:22.440 considering recent events in Afghanistan. And we're going to talk 8 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:26.559 about the culture that leads to all of these foreign 9 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:28.640 wars and the US wars that have been going on. 10 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:31.199 I think the United States has only had twenty two 11 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:34.240 years of peace since its foundation, so we're going to 12 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:38.200 talk about what leads to that. But doctor Knox can 13 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:41.240 talk more about that. So Michael Knox, are you there. 14 00:00:41.799 --> 00:00:43.840 Yes, I am. Thank you William for having me. 15 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:46.119 Yes, well, thanks for gewing to the interview. For people 16 00:00:46.119 --> 00:00:48.920 who may not have heard your background or this project 17 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:51.159 that you have for a national monument and the US 18 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:53.399 Peace Registery. Can you talk about your background and what 19 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:56.520 led you to write the book Ending US Wars? 20 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:00.200 Well, I'm by training a clinical psychologist. I worked as 21 00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:06.680 a professor until I retired in twenty eleven, and in 22 00:01:06.680 --> 00:01:11.480 two thousand and five, I took my son James to 23 00:01:11.799 --> 00:01:15.840 Washington and we visited the National Mall and saw a 24 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:18.599 lot of the National monuments, which I'd seen many times, 25 00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:22.719 but I was conducting a tour basically as a tour guide, 26 00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:26.560 and bade me question things a little deeper. And I 27 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:30.159 began to realize that I was saying war monument after 28 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:34.480 war monument after war monument, and even individuals who were 29 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:38.159 depicted in statuary, often they were carrying a sword or 30 00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:40.879 a spear, or a bow and arrow, or a pistol 31 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:46.439 or some weapon. And we could find nothing on the 32 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:51.879 mall or any public property that related to peace and 33 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:56.400 to the courageous Americans who have worked for peace. And 34 00:01:57.000 --> 00:01:59.680 so I started thinking in two thousand and five about 35 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:05.359 the need for a US Peace Memorial and created the 36 00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:13.120 US Peace Memorial Foundation. And basically our nation began in war. 37 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:17.280 We have a long history of waging war, from the 38 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:23.120 native peoples that we decimated, the American army, US army decimated, 39 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:28.319 you know, to recent bombings of poor people living in 40 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:41.800 underdeveloped Middle East Africa end of World War two, killing 41 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:47.319 millions of people, maiming tens of millions more, disrupting disrupting 42 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:54.560 and destroying education, healthcare, housing businesses. Since nineteen forty six, 43 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:58.560 no other country has killed and injured more people living 44 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:02.159 outside of its borders. And I don't think many Americans 45 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:06.039 realize how much of a war culture that we have. 46 00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:10.919 Since nine to eleven, our military and SAIA have bombed 47 00:03:11.240 --> 00:03:14.719 and killed and wounded people and made refugees of people 48 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:21.039 in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iraq, Somaya, Libya, Yemen, Syria, and 49 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:26.479 basically as we're seeing now with the end or the 50 00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:32.400 supposed end of the war in Afghanistan creates tremendous numbers 51 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:36.120 of refugees. All of these bombings do, and this is 52 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:39.080 a crisis that the world is going to be facing 53 00:03:39.240 --> 00:03:42.400 for many, many years. I personally don't think the war 54 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:47.719 in Afghanistan is over. I think that it's just public relations. 55 00:03:48.919 --> 00:03:51.759 In reality, will continue to bomb, but we'll just fly 56 00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:54.319 a little bit farther. We'll fly the airplanes and the 57 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:57.960 drones a little farther, just like we do did last 58 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:02.039 week when we bombed Yemen and Somalia. We don't have 59 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:05.199 bases there, we don't need bases there. We will continue 60 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:10.560 to kill there. So with this long history and culture 61 00:04:10.599 --> 00:04:15.879 of war. I started thinking about what reinforces that, basically 62 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:20.199 from my background as a psychologist, and I think citizens 63 00:04:20.279 --> 00:04:28.360 and politicians feel compelled to honor soldiers and they feel 64 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:33.959 much less likely to criticize war if they hold soldiers 65 00:04:34.040 --> 00:04:37.240 up as heroes. That's one reason we have all of 66 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:45.160 these monuments to soldiers, even Confederate soldiers, all around the country. 67 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:49.199 And it's part of the culture of war and sustaining 68 00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:52.800 it and reinforcing it. So I think we need to 69 00:04:52.839 --> 00:04:58.800 ask ourselves, why aren't we recognizing teachers and healthcare providers 70 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:03.519 and parents and parents and volunteers and farmers and salespeople 71 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:07.519 and government employees, everyone who's part of the fabric of 72 00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:11.480 our community. But instead of doing that, you know, we 73 00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:17.600 often you know, in any event you attend, any place 74 00:05:17.639 --> 00:05:21.600 you go. I recently went to SeaWorld and Bush Gardens. 75 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:28.199 They have military displays there. Even before the killer Whale demonstrations, 76 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:30.800 they had a big tribute to the military. And our 77 00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:37.480 schools have military recruiters in them. You sports events often 78 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:41.160 they will have halftime shows dedicated to the military. And 79 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:45.560 this is all part of reinforcing the culture of war, 80 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:49.759 making sure that people never criticize war, because to criticize 81 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:55.000 war or militarization is really to criticize our soldiers and 82 00:05:55.079 --> 00:05:58.319 our veterans, and nobody would ever want to do that. 83 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:02.000 So it's all patriotic too, right, So it's supposedly unpatriotic 84 00:06:02.120 --> 00:06:06.279 to criticize this one element of our own government. But 85 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:12.319 this war culture has has shifted certainly since nine to eleven. 86 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:14.519 I think it's very timely, but it shifted so much 87 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:19.439 of our resources to these medalings all the way around 88 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:22.199 the world, like we're really a global empire. It's it's 89 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:26.040 kind of a Pax Americana, like packs Romana, but we 90 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:28.639 just continue our bombing. It's not it's kind of like 91 00:06:28.680 --> 00:06:31.639 a perpetual war. I've had other guests on about that. 92 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:35.199 And can you talk kind of about the financial costs 93 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:38.199 of these wars that are ongoing all around the world. 94 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:41.839 Well, you know, we're hearing more and more about that. 95 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:47.120 In fact, last week the Pentagon budget Budget's interesting that 96 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:54.639 President Biden's budget just like President Trump's budget for the military. 97 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:59.439 When Congress reacted to that budget. In both cases, including 98 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:02.319 the last week after the supposed end of the war 99 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:08.759 in Afghanistan, the Congress of Democrats and Republicans joined together 100 00:07:09.399 --> 00:07:13.160 to put more money into the Pentagon, more than the 101 00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:16.959 either president had asked for. I think this year it 102 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:21.920 was twenty three million dollars and I mean billion dollars 103 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:25.800 more than had been requested. So we're talking about trillions 104 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:31.000 of dollars. Although the military budget may be in the 105 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:37.480 range of seven hundred and fifty billion, the CIA actually 106 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:41.519 is responsible for about fifty percent of the drone attacks 107 00:07:41.560 --> 00:07:45.800 in our war and a huge unknowable budget, So I 108 00:07:45.800 --> 00:07:48.560 would say the cost is about a trillion dollars a year, 109 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:51.680 certainly more than if you add everything else up that 110 00:07:51.759 --> 00:08:00.160 might be important, healthcare and dedication and everything else as 111 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:02.639 an add up to what we spend on wars. 112 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:06.680 It really is incredible how much we spend on wars. 113 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:09.680 I mean, and I do think Orwell was right. This 114 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:15.040 work culture solidifies the social structure of any government, so 115 00:08:15.160 --> 00:08:17.319 you always got to keep the people poor, people poor, 116 00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:20.639 and I think that's really what the budget does. And 117 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:23.639 I think that both parties are shamelessly involved in wasting 118 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:27.839 all this money. It's really incredible how tolerant Americans really are. 119 00:08:27.879 --> 00:08:30.720 I guess you have to propaganize them about war on 120 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:36.919 terror to justify these gargantuan expenditures. But yeah, it's all 121 00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:37.879 part of it. 122 00:08:37.879 --> 00:08:41.399 It is propaganda, and you don't have to look very deep. 123 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:43.879 You don't even have to be very intelligent or to 124 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:48.039 read much in the way of the news media to 125 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:52.080 realize that things like, you know, the invasion of Iraq 126 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:57.360 for weapons of mass destruction, it was clearly not a 127 00:08:57.480 --> 00:08:59.960 legitimate reason for invading another country. If you want to 128 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.759 see the country with the most weapons of mass destruction 129 00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:06.399 in the world, in fact, more weapons than the next 130 00:09:06.440 --> 00:09:10.480 ten nations combined, it's the United States of America. We 131 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:15.120 have more nuclear weapons. We've used the nuclear weapons we use, 132 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:20.039 and chemical weapons. We have biological weapons that were developing 133 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:23.120 all the time. May remember after nine to eleven the 134 00:09:23.159 --> 00:09:26.960 anthrax scare, all of that anthrax was chasing traced back 135 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:29.840 through DNA to the US Army. 136 00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:34.240 Yeah, it was for tetri right, like the biological weapons facility. Yeah, 137 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:38.279 super weaponized, you know, super weaponized the anthrax. 138 00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:42.759 And in terms of Afghanistan, you don't need to be 139 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:47.720 very intelligent to realize what was going on there. Sixteen 140 00:09:47.799 --> 00:09:51.559 or seventeen of the criminals involved in nine to eleven, 141 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:58.159 we're traveling on Saudi passports. There were Saudi citizens been. 142 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:03.600 Lawden's money came from Saudia Arabia. They were given basically 143 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:10.519 shelter in Florida for many, many months. They were trained. 144 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:13.080 The only two skills they needed to have they didn't 145 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:16.480 learn in Afghanistan, they learned in Florida. They learned how 146 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:19.879 to fly an airplane into a building in Florida, and 147 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:22.080 they learned how to use a cell phone, a skill 148 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:24.679 which they didn't have before they arrived here, so they 149 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:28.120 could communicate with each other. So obviously we weren't going 150 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:32.000 to bomb Florida. And Afghanistan had absolutely nothing to do 151 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:32.960 with nine to eleven. 152 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:37.600 Either did Iraq, but they certainly wanted to be Thie 153 00:10:37.720 --> 00:10:38.840 nine eleven two Iraq. 154 00:10:38.919 --> 00:10:43.200 I mean, this is going back exactly. Yeah, And if 155 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:46.759 you think about I mean, I was around during the 156 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:51.399 various wars of Vietnam and Iraq, and I mean Vietnam 157 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:55.399 and Cambodia and Laoist. I still to this day cannot 158 00:10:55.720 --> 00:10:59.840 understand the rationale for why we had to kill names 159 00:10:59.879 --> 00:11:04.080 of people in Asia and Southeast Asia. I just I 160 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:07.519 don't understand it. And I'm afraid that now that we 161 00:11:07.879 --> 00:11:12.120 claim we've ended the Afghanistan war, that we will starting 162 00:11:12.279 --> 00:11:17.519 war with the China and or maybe North Korea again, 163 00:11:18.039 --> 00:11:24.399 or Iran which hasn't invaded any other countries. China hasn't 164 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:29.039 invaded any other countries. But we're determined to put the 165 00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:33.639 world at risk. And Biden's budget asked actually asked for 166 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:38.039 another thirty billion dollars to develop new nuclear weapons. If 167 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:43.080 you can imagine that, you know, I did want to 168 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:46.879 talk you know about my book Ending US Wars by 169 00:11:46.919 --> 00:11:50.559 honoring Americans work for peace, because I think that's the 170 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:57.039 way to change our peace culture. We need to encourage 171 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:59.799 your audience to go to US Peace for more about 172 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:04.399 our website, look at the information about what we're doing 173 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:08.559 by honoring people. We have a US Peace Registry where 174 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:11.960 we document the specific work that hundreds of people and 175 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:17.360 Americans and organizations have done for peace and end war. 176 00:12:17.879 --> 00:12:21.000 We're trying to create role models. We've got the military 177 00:12:21.080 --> 00:12:23.679 role models. They're in all the movies, they're in this 178 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:26.720 you know, they come to the schools and impress the 179 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:30.720 young children. But we need peace role models, and so 180 00:12:30.759 --> 00:12:33.799 we have documented the work of hundreds of people that 181 00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:36.799 we honor in the US Peace Registry, which is part 182 00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:40.679 of my book Ending US Wars, and we give an 183 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:45.519 annual US Peace Prize to a person from within within 184 00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:50.600 the US Peace Registry, a personal organization that's that's done 185 00:12:50.679 --> 00:12:55.279 the most that we feel for peace. Many of those 186 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:59.600 people have military backgrounds. In fact, Veterans for Peace is 187 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:04.000 one of the organizations that was awarded the US Peace Prize, 188 00:13:04.519 --> 00:13:07.399 and we've done that. This is our thirteenth year of 189 00:13:07.480 --> 00:13:10.519 giving the US Peace Prize, and most Americans aren't even 190 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:14.600 aware of that. They look to the Nobel Peace Prize. Well, 191 00:13:14.919 --> 00:13:17.960 we don't need to look to the Norwegian Parliament to 192 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:21.919 make decisions about who's worthy of a peace prize, people 193 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:26.080 like Kissinger and Obama when we have our own US 194 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:30.720 Peace Prize, which is supported by the US Peace Memorial Foundation. 195 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:34.600 And so we have the US Peace Registry, the US 196 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:37.480 Peace Prize, and then we're raising funds to build a 197 00:13:37.559 --> 00:13:42.320 national monument in Washington, DC that will help to change 198 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:46.360 our culture because people will then understand that it's socially 199 00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:50.919 acceptable to speak out against war. They see a national monument, 200 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:56.320 they see quotations from famous Americans, many US presidents and 201 00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:01.200 cultural icons, people like Margaret Meade and Martin Luther King Junior, 202 00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:06.679 and you know Muhammad Ali. You know quotes from Einstein 203 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:09.879 who said, I believe that the killing of human beings 204 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:13.720 in a war is no better than common murder. There 205 00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:19.639 are strong statements from people that everyone will have read about, 206 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:23.080 people like Helen Keller, but be shocked by their strong 207 00:14:23.159 --> 00:14:25.919 anti war statements, and. 208 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:29.039 You never hear that on the corporate media, so you know, never, 209 00:14:29.320 --> 00:14:30.360 yeah no. 210 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:35.679 And President Kennedy, who of course has many faults, but 211 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:40.080 one thing that he said early in his career was 212 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:44.000 that war will exist until that distant day when the 213 00:14:44.120 --> 00:14:49.519 conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the 214 00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:55.360 warrior does today. So basically that that is it could 215 00:14:55.360 --> 00:15:00.639 be the basis for our argument here that an anti 216 00:15:00.759 --> 00:15:05.799 war activist, once their reputation and prestige is elevated to 217 00:15:05.879 --> 00:15:08.159 where it needs to be so that they are honored 218 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:12.120 by our culture, that their prestige is the same as 219 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:16.639 the soldier, then we can we can look for legitimate 220 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:20.000 arguments where the causes of peace can be argued at 221 00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:23.440 the same time that the causes of war or the 222 00:15:23.559 --> 00:15:25.559 voices of war are being heard. 223 00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:30.039 Right, and I mean it's it is remarkable. We have 224 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:34.600 so many people that are Americans that have you know, 225 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:39.159 made statements or done things against war, but their history 226 00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:43.399 of that is really kind of drowned out by so 227 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:45.360 many people warmongers and things like that. 228 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:48.759 It was, and that's why this mindment, which will actually 229 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:55.399 have electronically available the listings of we have currently nine 230 00:15:55.480 --> 00:15:59.519 hundred specific anti war behaviors people have engaged in hundreds 231 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:02.480 of people. Those will all be documented at the monument, 232 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:07.240 so these people, these living people, are honored, and then 233 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:11.320 it will be covered with quotations from famous Americans where 234 00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:13.559 everyone will know the name of the Americans that be 235 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:17.000 shocked by the strong anti war quote. And that can 236 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:20.039 change our culture so that people realize, well, it must 237 00:16:20.039 --> 00:16:24.320 be socially acceptable to speak out against war. And if 238 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:28.440 we can encourage people to start honoring everyone who makes 239 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:33.440 a contribution to our country, not just the soldiers, then 240 00:16:33.559 --> 00:16:36.919 I think we can take a big step towards questioning 241 00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:42.120 our military budget and questioning why we're invading country after country. 242 00:16:42.200 --> 00:16:45.600 These countries have not invaded us, No country has invaded 243 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:49.519 us in my lifetime, and yet we've killed millions of 244 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:51.240 people around the world. 245 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:53.639 Right, and if the thing is that Americans are in 246 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:58.360 a fishbole. They don't realize the opinion of our country 247 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:02.159 from smaller country around the world. They don't understand that 248 00:17:02.279 --> 00:17:05.440 we have this fiction of Russia being a threat, but 249 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:08.519 it's a non existent threat. But there are other countries 250 00:17:08.759 --> 00:17:12.880 who view America as the biggest bully of its era. Really, 251 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:15.880 it's like there's a potential that they could get in 252 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:20.319 they did. Look at Libya. Serious, you know, we've been 253 00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:23.039 in so many countries. Yeah, it's just incredible. 254 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:25.759 Exactly, and maybe these wars so we have to have 255 00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:28.680 to wonder. I mean, obviously we lost the war in Vietnam, 256 00:17:28.759 --> 00:17:32.440 Laos and Cambodia, the war in Iraq. You know, we're 257 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:37.599 out of there, barely got out Afghanistan. I guess we're 258 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:40.200 out of that. We're just gonna bomb from a distance. Now. 259 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:44.960 Libya was another one. You know that Obama engaged in 260 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:47.880 basically a shock in awe of Libya, but it wasn't 261 00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:51.599 even covered by the media. They bombed Tripoli, they bombed 262 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:55.039 they just like bush bomb Baghdad. They bombed where the 263 00:17:55.079 --> 00:17:59.240 people live, residents. They killed, killed old people and the 264 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:03.880 children and them and noncombatants. These are just residential areas 265 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:07.279 on military bases. The idea was to bring Libya to 266 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:10.240 its to its knees or you know, with the might 267 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:13.799 of the US government. And hopefully we'll never attempt something 268 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:17.519 like that with Russia or or China. That will be 269 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:20.079 the end of the world. In my opinion, It'll be 270 00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:23.799 in America to wake up and realize and our citizens 271 00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:28.839 to stop electing these warmonners Republicans and Democrats who take 272 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:33.839 bribes from the war industry. We politely call them campaign contributions, 273 00:18:34.279 --> 00:18:38.119 but they are no less than bribes to be sure 274 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:42.599 that these politicians continue to funnel money into the military 275 00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:43.759 industrial complex. 276 00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:47.160 Right, it's the original warning of Eisenhower. Right, So all 277 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:47.720 that came. 278 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:55.000 Exactly exactly, but yeah, it certainly did. I hope your 279 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:58.240 listeners will consider looking at the US piece for Morail 280 00:18:58.279 --> 00:19:03.839 Foundation and the US castore dot org, our website, consider 281 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:10.880 reading my book online or however he wished to a 282 00:19:10.920 --> 00:19:12.680 lot of it's on the website. 283 00:19:13.559 --> 00:19:17.240 Wars Ending US wars. So you have the national Monument, 284 00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:20.200 You've got the US Peace Registry, you've given. Can you 285 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:22.559 talk about some of the people that you've honored from 286 00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:24.319 your group with. 287 00:19:24.920 --> 00:19:29.680 Yeah, well, as there have been twelve recipients so far. 288 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:35.319 Last year it was Christine On for bold activism to 289 00:19:35.400 --> 00:19:40.160 end the Korean War, Hewlett's wounds and promote women's rules 290 00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:43.640 in peace building. She's the head of a group called 291 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:48.359 Women Across the DMZ and very active in getting North 292 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:53.039 and South Korea normalizing relations, ending the US war there. 293 00:19:54.440 --> 00:19:58.920 In twenty nineteen, it was a John Lubaraka. He's the 294 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:04.559 national organizer of lack Alliance for Peace and he was 295 00:20:04.599 --> 00:20:08.440 given the award for bold anti war actions and writings 296 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:16.319 and speeches and his leadership just providing inspiring voice against militarism. 297 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:20.000 And in previous years we've had people like David Swanson, 298 00:20:20.200 --> 00:20:24.440 the founder one of the founders of Well Beyond War 299 00:20:25.079 --> 00:20:28.920 and Anne Wright who is a former Army colonel and 300 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:34.000 diplomat who resigned because of the US war in the 301 00:20:34.039 --> 00:20:42.160 Middle East and write Veterans for Peace. Code Pink is 302 00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:49.359 another recipient. That's Women for Peace. Nom Chomsky, who most 303 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:56.319 people know is written for nearly six decades brilliant anti 304 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:04.920 war analysis. Bradley Manning now Chelsea Manning, you know who 305 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.160 revealed the US war crimes. Basically, I don't know. You 306 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:11.680 can still see some of those videos of US war 307 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:16.799 crimes online where basically we just killed civilians almost like 308 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:23.799 a game. So Chelsea video game. Yeah, yeah yeah. Congressman 309 00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:29.200 Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich won the award in twenty ten, 310 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:34.480 introduced an awful lot of anti war legislation and try 311 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:39.359 to reduce the budget. Cindy she and everyone familiar with her, 312 00:21:39.480 --> 00:21:44.160 won the award in two thousand and nine, became very 313 00:21:44.200 --> 00:21:49.480 active after her son was killed in war. So you know, 314 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:54.319 it's a distinguished group of people like Medea, Benjamin and 315 00:21:54.680 --> 00:21:59.480 who founded Code Pink. I'm probably missing a few names, 316 00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:06.839 but I apologize that Kathy Kelly exactly, who's actually put 317 00:22:06.839 --> 00:22:09.839 her life on the line many times in Afghanistan to 318 00:22:09.960 --> 00:22:16.079 keep the US military from beating up or killing Afghanian families. 319 00:22:17.319 --> 00:22:21.599 So you know, it's we have American heroes. And when 320 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:24.960 I started this, I'm a university professor. I started asking 321 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.319 my students, can you think of any anti war hero, 322 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.079 American anti war hero, and you know, just silence, And 323 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:36.720 someone said Gandhi and I said, well, he's from India. 324 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:42.039 So if you press them hard, they will remember that. 325 00:22:42.680 --> 00:22:46.519 Martin Luther King Junior did speak out against the Vietnam War, 326 00:22:47.160 --> 00:22:50.880 but they don't know other names. So our mission is 327 00:22:50.920 --> 00:22:57.119 to elevate these people like Muhammad Ali who said, no, 328 00:22:57.200 --> 00:22:59.920 I'm not going ten thousand miles to help murder, kill 329 00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:04.759 and burn other people to simply help continue the domination 330 00:23:04.920 --> 00:23:09.079 of white slave masters over dark people. He said that 331 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:12.200 when he evaded the draft or refused to be drafted, 332 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:19.720 so showed tremendous courage. So we've got we have lots 333 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:22.519 of people that we honor and we want to elevate 334 00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:27.519 their names and their prestige so we can show, especially 335 00:23:27.640 --> 00:23:31.680 young people, that there are role models out there for 336 00:23:32.680 --> 00:23:35.559 opposing one or more wars. And I have to say 337 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:40.440 we're not you know, we're not necessarily against all wars. 338 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:43.240 We have many people that we've honored who have fought 339 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:48.279 in wars. Tulsa Gabbert is an example something. She was 340 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:51.920 nominated for the US Peace Prize last year when she 341 00:23:52.039 --> 00:23:55.519 was a member of Congress and also a major in 342 00:23:55.559 --> 00:24:00.119 the military. So, you know, it doesn't matter if if 343 00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:03.279 you're pacifist or not. What matters is that you have 344 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:08.920 the courage to speak out against any war, any bombing 345 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:13.759 of people that doesn't make sense to you, and demand accountability. 346 00:24:14.359 --> 00:24:16.160 Right, A lot of the people who are anti war 347 00:24:16.440 --> 00:24:18.599 activists who want to end the war were in some 348 00:24:18.680 --> 00:24:24.640 of these wars. They become the most anti activists out there, right, M. 349 00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:33.640 Yeah, exactly. And so I just hope that people will 350 00:24:33.640 --> 00:24:38.599 take a look at uscasemorl dot org and consider joining 351 00:24:38.680 --> 00:24:42.920 us as founding members. We're not going really public with 352 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:46.799 the national media until we have a thousand members representing 353 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:49.240 all fifty states. And we list all of our members 354 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:52.440 that are well about four hundred and fifty right now 355 00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:57.160 from forty six states plus Washington, d C, Puerto Rico, 356 00:24:57.240 --> 00:25:01.160 and the US Virgin Islands. So you know, we're what 357 00:25:01.319 --> 00:25:04.279 we need another you know, or five hundred more to 358 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:06.680 get to the thousand. But we wanted to have a 359 00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:11.119 thousand founding members representing all fifty states before we really 360 00:25:11.559 --> 00:25:18.200 went public to the mainstream media. Uh. And that's you know, 361 00:25:18.279 --> 00:25:20.759 that's something that we have to build. We have. Raising 362 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:25.000 funds for a national monument is very expensive and you. 363 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:27.519 Are I mean, you're expecting to spend a significant amount 364 00:25:27.559 --> 00:25:30.519 of money and you're also a nonprofit, right, so it's 365 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:31.519 a five it's. 366 00:25:31.400 --> 00:25:34.279 A five O one C three not for profit, Yes, 367 00:25:34.680 --> 00:25:38.400 and we have. We have many, many donors. We counted 368 00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:42.960 them in our annual report and on our website. Many 369 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:48.440 people have had their their distributions from the IRIS sent 370 00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:51.319 directly to US, so they don't have to pay taxes, 371 00:25:51.720 --> 00:25:56.640 taxes that contribute to more funding for the military. Uh. 372 00:25:56.759 --> 00:25:59.839 And you know there are many ways that you can contribute. 373 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:03.000 Also have a volunteer program that you can read about 374 00:26:03.079 --> 00:26:04.119 on our website. 375 00:26:04.759 --> 00:26:07.640 And what can you describe for the audience what the 376 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:09.200 National Peace Registry is? 377 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:16.519 Yes, well, the usp US. The US Peace Registry documents 378 00:26:16.599 --> 00:26:22.039 the work of hundreds of Americans and US organizations that 379 00:26:22.839 --> 00:26:26.799 have worked up four piece and against war. So we 380 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:32.519 have people, we have documented what exactly they've done and 381 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:38.680 behaviorally specific terms like they founded an organization, they chain 382 00:26:38.839 --> 00:26:42.160 themselves to the White House fence demanding an end of 383 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:45.160 the war in Afghanistan. You know, they wrote a letter 384 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:48.480 to the editor of their local newspaper or an a 385 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:52.519 pad article. And we have links in the US Peace 386 00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:55.240 Registry and on our website where you can see the 387 00:26:55.359 --> 00:26:58.400 US Peace Registry a links so that you can read 388 00:26:58.440 --> 00:27:01.920 an article someone wrote see ev interview that they gave 389 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:05.759 an opposition to war, or see a piece of legislation. 390 00:27:05.880 --> 00:27:09.720 We have several members of Congress former members of Congress 391 00:27:09.799 --> 00:27:13.799 who introduced legislation. So they are about nine hundred specific 392 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:18.200 behaviors that we that we have documented. Many of them 393 00:27:18.279 --> 00:27:21.319 have hot links, so you can actually go and look 394 00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:26.720 at what the person did and and hopefully be inspired 395 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:29.359 from them and get some ideas of what you might 396 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:32.200 do if you oppose war. You might not want to 397 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:35.680 do civil disobedience, but you might want to write a 398 00:27:36.200 --> 00:27:39.480 r editor or a letter to your member of Congress. 399 00:27:40.279 --> 00:27:43.079 You might want to join anti war organizations, become a 400 00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:47.680 founding member of the US Piece for Moral Foundation. There's 401 00:27:47.799 --> 00:27:49.759