Dear Friends,
With a scandal a day emanating from the White House and tearing at what remains of democracy in this country, it’s difficult to keep up with anything else. But doing so is an urgent necessity.
Trump’s first international trip as President takes him to the NATO summit in Brussels, where thousands will be in the streets telling him to go home and demanding the abolition of NATO, the imperial global alliance whose expansion to Russia’s borders lies at the root of U.S.-Russian tensions. (Russians have powerful and painful memories of Napoleon’s and Hitler’s invasions from the west.)
Yesterday, with the help of United for Peace and Justice, we held an international briefing call about NATO. Speakers included Reiner Braun of Germany and Co-president of the International Peace Bureau, Ludo De Brabandar of Vrede in Belgium and a lead organizer of the May 24-25 counter-NATO protests and conference, and yours truly. You can tune into our briefing at: https://soundcloud.com/ user-14876602/no-to-nato-no- to-war-a-ufpj-national- briefing-call .
The recording begins with Reiner talking about why NATO is a dangerous alliance, followed by Ludo talking about the planned protests, followed by my providing background about what NATO is, why it was created and repurposed after the Cold War, and how it undermines our and others security. We do all of that in ½ hour, followed by an informative question and answer period.
Please take a listen and share it with friends. So few in our country, and even in our peace movement, know about NATO. And knowledge is the necessary seed for change.
For peace,
Joseph
