Clarification of Thought Friday, October 4th @ 7:30pm

Join us for our next Clarification of Thought  with guest speakers Ann Wright

Dissent and Conscience
Speaker: Ann Wright

Ann Wright has a master’s degree in national security affairs from the U.S. Naval War College. After college, she spent thirteen years in the U.S. Army and sixteen additional years in the Army Reserves, retiring as a Colonel. In 1987, Col. Wright joined the Foreign Service and served as U.S. Deputy Ambassador in Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan, and Mongolia. She received the State Department’s Award for Heroism for her actions during the evacuation of 2,500 people from the civil war in Sierra Leone. She was on the first State Department team to go to Afghanistan and helped reopen the Embassy there in December 2001. On March 19, 2003, the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, she cabled a letter of resignation to Secretary of State Colin Powell, stating that without the authorization of the UN Security Council, the invasion and occupation of a Muslim, Arab, oil-rich country would be a a violation of international law.

Since then, she has been writing and speaking out for peace. She fasted for a month, picketed at the US prison at Guantánamo, Cuba and has been arrested numerous times for peaceful, nonviolent protest of Bush’s policies, particularly the war on Iraq. She has been on delegations to Iran and was in Gaza three times in 2009, following the Israeli attack on Gaza that killed 1,440 and wounded 5,000. She was an organizer for the Gaza Freedom March that brought 1,350 persons from 44 countries to Cairo, Egypt, in solidarity with the people of Gaza. She was on the May, 2010 Gaza flotilla that was attacked by the Israeli military and was an organizer for the US Boat to Gaza, The Audacity of Hope, in the 2011 Gaza flotilla. She traveled to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen to interview victims of US assassin drones. She is the co-author of “Dissent: Voices of Conscience.” Please join us.
Date: Friday, October 4, 2013 @ 7:30 p.m.

Place: Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, 503 Rock Creek Church Rd. NW, Washington, DC 20010

For more information contact Dorothy Day Catholic Worker: 202-882-9649

Arms Bazaar

Dear Friends,

This is an invitation to please join with the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker and other peacemakers from Pax Christi Metro D.C.- Baltimore, Peace Action Montgomery and Jonah House in a nonviolent witness to protest the AFA Arms Bazaar (see below). Please come and bring a friend. And please spread the word and post this wherever you can.

As the U.S. political and military power structure, backed by the big weapons contractors, threatens military action against Syria, we urgently need to speak out for peace and against any military attack. Together, let us continue to do all we can to establish the Beloved Community and create a world free of weapons, war and oppression.

With gratitude, Art

Protest the Air Force Association “Arms Bazaar“

When: Wednesday, September 18, 2013, from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. (During AFA $330 per plate banquet)

Where: Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, 201 Waterfront St., National Harbor, MD 20745.
We will meet for the vigil at the corner of Waterfront St. and St. George Blvd., directly across from the Gaylord National Resort.

Sponsored by: Dorothy Day Catholic Worker

Co-Sponsored by Pax Christi Metro D.C.-Baltimore, Peace Action Montgomery, Jonah House

For more info contact: Art Laffin – artlaffin@hotmail.com

At a Glance

Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition (From the Air Force Association Web Site)

Be a part of the Air Force Association’s 2013 Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition September 16th through 18th, 2013. The conference once again will be held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center on the Potomac, in National Harbor, just across the river from Alexandria and minutes from downtown Washington, DC.

The Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition is truly a one-of-a-kind event where AFA brings together Air Force leadership, industry experts, academia and current aerospace specialists from around the world to discuss the issues and challenges facing America and the aerospace community today.

Invited speakers for 2013 include the Secretary of the Air Force, the USAF Chief of Staff, the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, and other top Air Force, government, and aerospace industry leaders. Our national conference attracts the top echelon of USAF senior leadership, including the commanders of every USAF command. Also invited are military dignitaries from air forces worldwide. The AFA 2013 Air & Space Conference offers attendees major conference addresses, forums and professional development workshops that focus on challenges and accomplishments unique to the Air Force and the aerospace community.

The Technology Exposition will feature aerospace exhibitors from around the world that will display and demonstrate the latest breakthroughs in air and space technology. The exhibits at AFA’s Technology Exposition highlight the most current developments in aerospace technology and education.

The 2013 Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition is your opportunity to network with colleagues, Air Force leadership, guest speakers, and professionals and pioneers from the private sector. Be a part of AFA’s premier national forum for aerospace professionals.

(Source: Washington Post; published July 25, 2013)

Defense Contractors Buck Expectations (Excerpt)

By Marjorie Censer

General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman, two of the region’s largest defense contractors, reported Wednesday an uptick in profits during the past three months despite a decline in government spending.

Both of the Falls Church-based companies cautioned that the automatic spending cuts related to the sequester could take a greater toll on their bottom lines in the future, but they were upbeat about their performance so far and raised their profit expectations for the rest of the year.

General Dynamics’ profit grew about 1 percent during the second quarter to $640 million, while revenue was flat. Northrop Grumman’s profit increased 1.7 percent during the quarter, reaching $488 million, while revenue grew slightly to $6.3 billion. Their results largely echoed those of Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin, the country’s largest defense contractor, which reported a 10 percent jump in quarterly profits Tuesday and raised its profit expectations for the year.

Why Protest

The Air Force and some 150 arms contractors taking part in the AFA Air & Space Conference and Technology Expo, what we call an “Arms Bazaar,” have played a prominent role in U.S. warmaking. These arms contractors, like General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin (mentioned in above article) are profiting from war and literally are making a killing! But that’s not all. The Air Force and numerous arms dealers are committed to U.S. nuclear/military superiority and militarizing and controlling space.

The U.S. continues to be the #1 arms dealer in the world. Foreign military sales by the U.S. were expected to reach $60 billion in fiscal 2012 ending September 30, according to Richard Genaille, deputy director of the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which brokers such government-to-government deals. Worldwide weapons sales by the United States tripled in 2011, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. U.S. arms sales to both developed and developing nations reached $66.3 billion in 2011, up from $21.4 billion in 2010. Total worldwide weapon sales in 2011 nearly doubled to $85.3 billion, making the U.S. responsible for more than three-quarters (77.7%) of all global sales. Some of the biggest purchasers of U.S. weapons that year were Middle Eastern nations, including Saudi Arabia, whose 2011 purchase of 84 advanced F-15 fighters in part accounted for a $30 billion bill. And Egypt has been, and continues to be, a large recipient of U.S. military aid and weapons. In the wake of the recent coup and horrific violence carried out by the Egyptian military government, Egypt still stands to receive $1.3 billion in U.S. military aid. However, if the Obama Administration were to acknowledge that a military coup took place in Egypt (which it still refuses to do as of this writing), Egypt could not receive this aid because it would be in violation of the law.

From September 16-18, the AFA will host speakers and seminars that will address how the U.S. can refine its warmaking and remain the preeminent military superpower on earth and in space. And on September 18, the AFA will hold a $330 per plate banquet sponsored by Lockheed Martin. As the AFA holds its opulent banquet, a nonviolent vigil will be held to decry this scandalous Arms Bazaar.

Who will give voice to the victims who have suffered and died in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere as a direct result of U.S. warmaking, and weapons, like the Drone ”Predator” and “Reaper” war planes, produced by the arms contractors participating in the “Arms Bazaar”? In the name of God who calls us to love and not to kill, it’s time to end this Arms Bazaar! It’s time to repent of U.S. war crimes and make reparations to all victims of U.S. warmaking. It’s time to bring all the war money home, alleviate poverty, meet urgent human needs, and save our environment. It’s time for the U.S. to stop threatening to attack Syria. It’s time to end construction of a new U.S.-backed naval base on Jeju Island in S. Korea that will serve as a U.S. military outpost to threaten and contain China. It’s time to disarm and eliminate all weapons–from nuclear weapons to killer drones, end all U.S. military intervention, abolish war and practice nonviolence. Please consider coming (and bring a friend) to this important vigil, and say Yes to Life and a resounding No to the war profiteers. We must not let this Arms Bazaar go unaddressed!

Directions from Downtown D.C., Parking and Meeting Place
Take 395 South (off of New York Ave. or Constitution Ave. at 9th St. NW) Merge onto 295 South via exit on left (crossing into Maryland) – 7.4 miles. Take the exit toward National Harbor. Take ramp to National Harbor Blvd. Bear left on National Harbor Blvd. and go two blocks to St. George Blvd. Make a right on St. George Blvd. Go to one block beforeWaterfront St. and look for street meter parking. Also St. George Parking Garage is on right in case you can’t find street parking (just past the cross street called Mariner Passage). The garage is one block before Waterfront St., where the Gaylord National Resort is located. We will meet for the vigil at the corner of Waterfront St. and St. George Blvd. on the sidewalk in front of the Gaylord National Resort. If you are coming from Maryland or Virginia use Map Quest for the most precise route to the Gaylord.

Public Transportation
If you would like to use public transportation, take the Green Line to Branch Ave. Get off at Branch Ave. and take the NH1 National Harbor bus line. This bus takes you to the corner of St. George Blvd. and Waterfront St. across from the Gaylord National Resort. Call 202-637-7000 and select “ride guide” for best directions. Or go WMATA web site.