Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 11.22.08

[David Shove (shove001]

            P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R   11.22.08

1. Peace walk          11.22 9am Cambridge MN
2. NWN4P Mtka          11.22 11am
3. Eco Thanksgiving    11.22 12noon
4. Music sale          11.22 1pm
5. NWN4P GoldenValley  11.22 1:30pm
6. Northtown vigil     11.22 2pm
7. $$ crash            11.22 2pm
8. Somali rights       11.22 4pm
9. Kalpulli music      11.22 5pm
10. Catholics/Jews     11.22 5pm
11. Nonpartisan party  11.22 7pm
12. Sleep out          11.22 7pm
13. CRASS/RNC8/hip-hop 11.22 10pm

14. Deep ancestry      11.23 9am
15. Youth for peace    11.23 12:30pm
16. Stillwater vigil   11.23 1pm
17. Environment        11.23 3pm

18. Jeremy Scahill - This is change? 20 hawks, Clintonites and neocons
19. ed             - Hope in B.O. Land  (poem)

--------1 of 19--------

From: Ken Reine <reine008 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Peace walk 11.22 9am Cambridge MN

every Saturday 9AM to 9:35AM
Peace walk in Cambridge - start at Hwy 95 and Fern Street


--------2 of 19--------

From: Carole Rydberg <carydberg [at] comcast.net>
Subject: NWN4P Mtka 11.22 11am

NWN4P-Minnetonka demonstration- Every Saturday, 11 AM to noon, at Hwy. 7
and 101.  Park in the Target Greatland lot; meet near the fountain. We
will walk along the public sidewalk. Signs available.


--------3 of 19--------

From: Do It Green! Minnesota <Do_It_Green_Minnesota [at] mail.vresp.com>
Subject: Eco Thanksgiving 11.22 12noon

November: Eco Thanksgiving
Sat, Nov 22: 12-2pm
12:00-12:30pm presentation, 12:30-2:00pm tasting, recipe exchange
Do It Green! Resource Center
inside Twin Cities Green retail store
2405 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls

Stop by the Do It Green! Resource Center to learn ideas and tips on how to
have an Eco Thanksgiving this year. There will be displays, a
presentation, a recipe exchange, and tips on how to have a low waste,
local foods, and eco friendly gathering. There will be a tasting after the
short presentation with organic cider and sweets! Stay to shop for eco
friendly gift items at Twin Cities Green.

No RSVP necessary, just show anytime between 12-2pm, this event is FREE!


--------4 of 19---------

From: John Kolstad <jkolstad [at] millcitymusic.com>
Subject: Music sale 11.22 1pm

We are clearing out the Warehouse of Mill City Music and are having a SALE
in our Store Front right next to the Blue Moon Coffee Cafe, located at
3822 East Lake (NW Corner of 39th Ave So and East Lake Street, Mpls).

Starting Saturday, November 22, 2008 from 1:00 PM to 5 PM Then for the
next few weeks, Monday - Friday 1 PM to 6 although someone is often here
after 10 AM. and you can stop by. Saturday open 1 PM to 5. Doorway
entrance, one door West of the Blue Moon Door [ under the "Star Beauty"
sign].

There are about 6,000 Cassettes and about 3,000 CDs and more.  We will be
selling CDs for from $.50 to $5.00.  Most CDs have never been played.  A
wide variety, but mostly Instrumental, easy listening, New Age, Some Jazz,
Lots of Christmas music and more.  Also available are Cassette Tapes from
$.25 to 1.00 same musical styles as CDs.  Also some vinyl, never opened;
folk, some jazz and classical.  Some VHS Videos and Displays or holders
for Cassette, CD or Video.

Also knit socks and other items.  Collector Neckties.  A number of very
nice books.  Lottsa Stuff.  Great Prices.

There will also be various items from the Garage Sales we missed having
this year.  Come by and do some Christmas Shopping early and save a lot of
money.  Help us pay our outrageous property taxes!!

John Kolstad [aka Papa John]
jkolstad [at] millcitymusic.com


--------5 of 19--------

From: Carole Rydberg <carydberg [at] comcast.net>
Subject: NWN4P GoldenVall 11.22 1:30pm

Saturday, 1:30-2:30 PM Golden Valley - NW Neighbors for Peace will hold
large banners on the pedestrian bridge over Highway 55, just west of
Winnetka, in Golden Valley every Saturday. There is plenty of parking in
the lot at the NW corner of the intersection; all are welcome. FYI Carole
763-546-5368.


--------6 of 19--------

From: Vanka485 [at] aol.com
Subject: Northtown vigil 11.22 2pm

Peace vigil at Northtown (Old Hwy 10 & University Av), every Saturday
2-3pm


--------7 of 19--------

From: ElyDog <elydog [at] gmail.com>
Subject: $$ crash 11.22 2pm

CRASH COURSE ON THE CRASH
What led up to this economic crisis?
Whose fault is this, and why did rich bankers get bailed out?

Crash Course on the Crash is an educational event to help the community
understand the complex world of the US economy.  People's economist* Karen
Redleaf will explain the ways deregulation and complex financial dealings
have led to the downfall of financial institutions and massive home
foreclosures.  A panel of representatives of groups most affected by this
crisis will discuss their experiences... ACORN, Welfare Rights Center, Poor
Peoples' Economic Human Rights Campaign, Dave Riehle. Music provided by
internationally-known folk singer Larry Long.

Get involved in taking back our economy!

Saturday, November 22
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Walker Church
3104 16th Ave S, Minneapolis

Childcare and snack provided.  Tabling and social hour following event.
Organizations wishing to table at this event can call 651-644-1173 for more
information.

Sponsored by Economic Crisis Action Group

*Karen Redleaf holds undergraduate and masters degrees in economics.  She
worked for years as an options trader and hedge fund researcher in the
financial industry until she quit in disgust. She specializes in explaining
economic concepts in plain language.


--------8 of 19--------

From: Lydia Howell <lydiahowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Somali rights 11.22 4pm

Sat. Nov. 22 - Somali human rights defenders tour US - Brian Coyle Center, 4
to 7 p.m, near Cedar-Riverside LTR, West Bank, Minneapolis


--------9 of 19--------

From: PRO826 [at] aol.com
Subject: Kalpulli music 11.22 5pm

Fundraiser, hosted by Kalpulli Turtle Island Multiversity  organization
_www.kalpulli.net_ (http://www.kalpulli.net)

Take Back November 22nd in honor of Drew Sjodin's passing after 5  years
Theme:  Violence Against Women
Saturday, November 22nd
5:00 pm
Hamline University
1551 Hewitt
Student Union Ballroom, 3rd floor

Concert performers include:  Albry Henry leading women's choir, Jake
Verden - poetry, Ryan Verden - Hip Hop, Amada and others with variety of
song

$5 suggested admission, money raised will go towards backyard Ecological
Restoration and Urban Gardening through Kalpulli.

FFI, contact Ray Tricomo at 651-714-0288


--------10 of 19--------

From: Ellen Kennedy <ejkennedy [at] MNGIN.ORG>
Subject: Catholics/Jews 11.22 5pm
[CHGS-LIST] "Constantine's Sword" - film about the Catholic Church
    and the Jews

CONSTANTINE'S SWORD, a remarkable look at the history of the Catholic
Church and the Jews, will be shown at 5pm Sat., Sun., Nov. 22, and 23 at
the Oak Street Cinema in Minneapolis. The documentary by former priest
James Carroll, based on his acclaimed 2001 book, explores a dark chapter
in Church history and the history of anti-semitism, from the Church's
foundation under Roman emperor Constantine transforming the cross into a
sword, through the fervent Christian Crusaders, to the Church in the
1930's under Pius XII, that led finally to the Holocaust perpetrated by
the Nazis.

The underlying complex historical and religious concepts are brought
incisively to the audience via Carroll's personal story and why he left
the priesthood. Separation of Church and State is also a theme as Carroll
tackles the evangelizing of the Air Force Academy.

Oak Street Cinema is located on the corner of Oak St. and Washington Ave.
S. just off the University of Minnesota's east bank campus.  Tickets are
$6 general admission, $5 student/ senior and $4 for members. For questions
please call 612.331.7563 or 612.331.3134.


--------11 of 19--------

From: Darrell Gerber <darrellgerber [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: Nonpartisan party 11.22 7pm

The Sixth Annual Nonpartisan Party
From:  Carleton Crawford (R)
            Elizabeth Dickinson (Green)
            Darrell Gerber (Green)
            Dan Justesen (IP)
            Brian Melendez (DFL)
            Gregg Sougstad (R)
            Craig Swaggert (IP)
            David Weinlick (DFL)

You and your friends are cordially invited to the sixth annual
"Nonpartisan Party" on Saturday 22 November, from 7 p.m. until Whenever,
at Brian Melendez's home, 1777 Dupont Avenue South, Minneapolis. (Please
see below for directions.)

The Concept

The inaugural Nonpartisan Party was held in 2003, when - for the first
time in many years - there were neither federal, state, legislative, nor
municipal elections scheduled in Minneapolis. The first Tuesday after the
first Monday in November came and went without a general election.

The co-hosts - then as now - were volunteer activists in different
political parties. (Well, okay, David Weinlick isn't a volunteer anymore.
But we're keeping him anyway.) We spend practically all our volunteer time
around politics, helping get our candidates elected. But some of the most
decent and interesting folks that we have met in local politics are not
necessarily members of the same party as we are. Unfortunately, those
folks seldom deal with each other outside the partisan political context,
so building relationships and actual friendships with each other is tough.
But politics would be much more civil, and perhaps focused more on issues
and less on personalities, if there were more opportunities for building
relationships and friendships among volunteers across party lines.

To that end, we threw the first Nonpartisan Party as an opportunity for
volunteer leaders in all the political parties to meet and mingle outside
partisan politics. The event was a success, so we have turned it into an
annual event - a chance for coming together after an actual election,
taking off our hats as partisans for a moment and looking at the
candidates and at each other as neighbors and fellow citizens.

The Rules
There will be a few ground rules:

 1.  The party is a private event, hosted by individuals and not by
political parties, organizations, or titles. Everyone who cares about
local politics, regardless of partisan affiliation (or lack of
affiliation), is welcome.
 2.  No agenda or program.
 3.  No handouts, leaflets, or other propaganda. It's a party, ya know?
 4.  The party is mostly in honor of volunteer activists. Publicly elected
officers are more than welcome. So are candidates for those offices. But
nobody gets a soapbox or a formal introduction.
 5.  No campaigning allowed. (Gossip and speculation are okay.)
 6.  No speeches!

We will supply some beverages and munchies. You don't need to bring
anything. But if you do want to bring something, you can bring a favorite
beverage or snack for sharing.

The Directions
1777 Dupont Avenue is a red-brick house with white trim, in Lowry Hill,
three blocks west of Hennepin Avenue, between Summit and Douglas (three
blocks north of Franklin). You can park on the street.


--------12 if 19--------

From: Brian Joyce <bpjoyce60 [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Sleep out 11.22 7pm

Sleep out

Join the Moxie Team for an overnight Sleep Out November 22nd (it is cold).
Bring a cardboard box to sleep in and spend the night outside to raise
awareness of homlessness in the community. Collect pledges from others to
support you during your sleep out. Please have all checks made out to the
benefactors, either Street Works or The Kulture Klub Collaborative. Any
cash will be divided between the two organizations. Have all pledges fill
in their name, address and phone number so that thank you letters and tax
deduction information can be sent. Moxie will be open for everyone to warm
up and use the restroom if needed. The Sleep Out will take place in the
SooVAC parking lot, across the street form Moxie Salon in uptown.
Registration will begin at 7:00pm. Please bring all pledges and donations
at that time.

Hair Rasing Event

On November 23th from 9am-6pm at the Uptown Moxie Salon location, stylists
will be volunteering their time and skills to raise funds for The Kulture
Klub Collaborative and Street Works. Book your haircuts at (612) 813-0330.


--------13 of 19--------

From: info [at] rnc8.org
Subject: CRASS/RNC8/hip-hop 10pm

This Saturday we are hosting a benefit show at the Bedlam Theatre to
support CRASS and the RNC8.

A fundraiser for RNC arrestees!
Saturday, November 22nd, 10pm
Bedlam Theatre, 1501 S. 6th St., Minneapolis
The Usual Suspects, Toki Wright, Jason Anxious, and the Nancy Drew Crew

18+, $5-10 suggested donation.
The Bedlam Theatre is located next to the Cedar-Riverside light rail
station on the West Bank.

See http://rncaftermath.org/ for the awesome benefit poster!


--------14 of 19--------

From: August Berkshire <augustberkshire [at] gmail.com>
Subject: Deep ancestry 11.23 9am

Minnesota Atheists - "Atheists Talk" radio show.
Sunday, November 23, 2008, 9-10 a.m. Central Time
"Finding Your Family"

Do you have questions about your ancestry before written time?  When
you've sent your DNA to a lab to find out about your ancient ancestors,
are you curious about how they get the data?  National Geographic was one
of the first organizations to answer these questions.  The result is the
story of our deep ancestry - the true human lineage traced to 60,000
years ago.

To get the story, the world famous Genographic Project tested DNA from
over 260,000 people.  The results tell the amazing story of how our
species migrated from eastern Africa to all parts of the world.  In
conjunction with Thanksgiving, we discuss "Finding Your Family" with Dr.
Matt Kaplan, head of the lab at the University of Arizona.

We welcome questions during the program at (952) 946-6205 or
radio [at] MinnesotaAtheists.org.

"Atheists Talk" airs live on AM 950 KTNF in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.
To stream live, go to http://www.am950ktnf.com/listen.

Podcasts of past shows are available at http://MinnesotaAtheists.org or
through iTunes. Program Notes are available at
http://MinnesotaAtheists.org.


--------15 of 19--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Youth for peace 11.23 12:30pm

Sunday, 11/23, 12:30 to 2 pm, the Twin Cities Peace with Justice Forum
series presents a program on youth speaking for peace, Central Lutheran
Church, 3rd Ave and 12th St (next to Mpls Convention Center), Mpls.  Info
from dhilden [at] comcast.net or 612-825-1481.  (Lunch available for $7.
Validated parking available in the Central lot/ramp on the south side of
the church.)


--------16 of 19--------

From: scot b <earthmannow [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Stillwater vigil 11.23 1pm

A weekly Vigil for Peace Every Sunday, at the Stillwater bridge from 1- 2
p.m.  Come after Church or after brunch ! All are invited to join in song
and witness to the human desire for peace in our world. Signs need to be
positive.  Sponsored by the St. Croix Valley Peacemakers.

If you have a United Nations flag or a United States flag please bring it.
Be sure to dress for the weather . For more information go to
<http://www.stcroixvalleypeacemakers.com/>http://www.stcroixvalleypeacemakers.com/

For more information you could call 651 275 0247 or 651 999 - 9560


--------17 of 19--------

From: Ginamariev22 [at] aol.com
Subject: Environment 11.23 3pm

The following event is being sponsored by Midwest Mountaineering.
Dr John Francis, Planetwalker
Redefining Environment
November 23, 3 p.m.
University of Minnesota Willey Hall

Dr. Francis is speaking as apart of the 2008 Outdoor Adventure Expo. John
Francis, Ph.D., known the world over as the Planetwalker, will discuss how
the current environmental crisis is a reflection of world wide social and
economic inequity and that any attempt to resolve the crisis must not only
address the scientific issues, such as climate change and deforestation
but also the humanitarian issues.

FREE TICKETS available starting Oct. 18th at Midwest Mountaineering. Four
tickets maximum per person. Only 1,000 tickets will be issued. Arrive by
2:45pm to be assured of your seat. Stand-by seating at the door will be
available at 2:45pm sharp. Any seats not taken by advance ticket holders
at that time will be re-issued as stand-by seating to those in line.
Seating will begin at 2:15pm. Click here for more information. Seating
limited to 1,000. Don't miss out!

The outdoor adventure expo is also FREE! Mailed tickets are available for
a $5 fee.


--------18 of 19--------

This is Change? 20 Hawks, Clintonites and Neocons to Watch for in Obama's
White House
by Jeremy Scahill
Published on Thursday, November 20, 2008 by AlterNet
Common Dreams

U.S. policy is not about one individual, and no matter how much faith
people place in President-elect Barack Obama, the policies he enacts will
be fruit of a tree with many roots. Among them: his personal politics and
views, the disastrous realities his administration will inherit, and, of
course, unpredictable future crises. But the best immediate indicator of
what an Obama administration might look like can be found in the people he
surrounds himself with and who he appoints to his Cabinet. And, frankly,
when it comes to foreign policy, it is not looking good.

Obama has a momentous opportunity to do what he repeatedly promised over
the course of his campaign: bring actual change. But the more we learn
about who Obama is considering for top positions in his administration,
the more his inner circle resembles a staff reunion of President Bill
Clinton's White House. Although Obama brought some progressives on board
early in his campaign, his foreign policy team is now dominated by the
hawkish, old-guard Democrats of the 1990s. This has been particularly true
since Hillary Clinton conceded defeat in the Democratic primary, freeing
many of her top advisors to join Obama's team.

"What happened to all this talk about change?" a member of the Clinton
foreign policy team recently asked the Washington Post. "This isn't
lightly flavored with Clintons. This is all Clintons, all the time."

Amid the euphoria over Obama's election and the end of the Bush era, it is
critical to recall what 1990s U.S. foreign policy actually looked like.
Bill Clinton's boiled down to a one-two punch from the hidden hand of the
free market, backed up by the iron fist of U.S. militarism. Clinton took
office and almost immediately bombed Iraq (ostensibly in retaliation for
an alleged plot by Saddam Hussein to assassinate former President George
H.W. Bush). He presided over a ruthless regime of economic sanctions that
killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and under the guise of the
so-called No-Fly Zones in northern and southern Iraq, authorized the
longest sustained U.S. bombing campaign since Vietnam.

Under Clinton, Yugoslavia was bombed and dismantled as part of what Noam
Chomsky described as the "New Military Humanism." Sudan and Afghanistan
were attacked, Haiti was destabilized and "free trade" deals like the
North America Free Trade Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade radically escalated the spread of corporate-dominated
globalization that hurt U.S. workers and devastated developing countries.
Clinton accelerated the militarization of the so-called War on Drugs in
Central and Latin America and supported privatization of U.S. military
operations, giving lucrative contracts to Halliburton and other war
contractors. Meanwhile, U.S. weapons sales to countries like Turkey and
Indonesia aided genocidal campaigns against the Kurds and the East
Timorese.

The prospect of Obama's foreign policy being, at least in part, an
extension of the Clinton Doctrine is real. Even more disturbing, several
of the individuals at the center of Obama's transition and emerging
foreign policy teams were top players in creating and implementing foreign
policies that would pave the way for projects eventually carried out under
the Bush/Cheney administration. With their assistance, Obama has already
charted out several hawkish stances. Among them:

-- His plan to escalate the war in Afghanistan;

-- An Iraq plan that could turn into a downsized and rebranded occupation
that keeps U.S. forces in Iraq for the foreseeable future;

-- His labeling of Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a "terrorist
organization;"

-- His pledge to use unilateral force inside of Pakistan to defend U.S.
interests;

-- His position, presented before the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC), that Jerusalem "must remain undivided" -- a remark that
infuriated Palestinian officials and which he later attempted to reframe;

-- His plan to continue the War on Drugs, a backdoor U.S.
counterinsurgency campaign in Central and Latin America;

-- His refusal to "rule out" using Blackwater and other armed private
forces in U.S. war zones, despite previously introducing legislation to
regulate these companies and bring them under U.S. law.

Obama did not arrive at these positions in a vacuum. They were carefully
crafted in consultation with his foreign policy team. While the verdict is
still out on a few people, many members of his inner foreign policy circle
- including some who have received or are bound to receive Cabinet posts
- supported the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Some promoted the myth
that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. A few have worked with the
neoconservative Project for the New American Century, whose radical agenda
was adopted by the Bush/Cheney administration. And most have proven track
records of supporting or implementing militaristic, offensive U.S. foreign
policy. "After a masterful campaign, Barack Obama seems headed toward some
fateful mistakes as he assembles his administration by heeding the advice
of Washington's Democratic insider community, a collective group that
represents little 'change you can believe in,'" notes veteran journalist
Robert Parry, the former Associated Press and Newsweek reporter who broke
many of the stories in the Iran-Contra scandal in the 1980s.

As news breaks and speculation abounds about cabinet appointments, here
are 20 people to watch as Obama builds the team who will shape U.S.
foreign policy for at least four years:

Joe Biden

There was no stronger sign that Obama's foreign policy would follow the
hawkish tradition of the Democratic foreign policy establishment than his
selection of Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate. Much has been written on
Biden's tenure as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but his
role in the invasion and occupation of Iraq stands out. Biden is not just
one more Democratic lawmaker who now calls his vote to authorize the use
of force in Iraq "mistaken;" Biden was actually an important facilitator
of the war.

In the summer of 2002, when the United States was "debating" a potential
attack on Iraq, Biden presided over hearings whose ostensible purpose was
to weigh all existing options. But instead of calling on experts whose
testimony could challenge the case for war - Iraq's alleged WMD
possession and its supposed ties to al-Qaida - Biden's hearings treated
the invasion as a foregone conclusion. His refusal to call on two
individuals in particular ensured that testimony that could have proven
invaluable to an actual debate was never heard: Former Chief United
Nations Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter and Hans von Sponeck, a 32-year
veteran diplomat and the former head of the U.N.'s Iraq program.

Both men say they made it clear to Biden's office that they were ready and
willing to testify; Ritter knew more about the dismantling of Iraq's WMD
program than perhaps any other U.S. citizen and would have been in prime
position to debunk the misinformation and outright lies being peddled by
the White House. Meanwhile, von Sponeck had just returned from Iraq, where
he had observed Ansar al Islam rebels in the north of Iraq - the
so-called al-Qaida connection - and could have testified that, rather
than colluding with Saddam's regime, they were in a battle against it.
Moreover, he would have pointed out that they were operating in the
U.S.-enforced safe haven of Iraqi Kurdistan. "Evidence of al-Qaida/lraq
collaboration does not exist, neither in the training of operatives nor in
support to Ansar-al-Islam," von Sponeck wrote in an Op-Ed published
shortly before the July 2002 hearings. "The U.S. Department of Defense and
the CIA know perfectly well that today's Iraq poses no threat to anyone in
the region, let alone in the United States. To argue otherwise is
dishonest."

With both men barred from testifying, rather than eliciting an array of
informed opinions, Biden's committee whitewashed Bush's lies and helped
lead the country to war. Biden himself promoted the administration's false
claims that were used to justify the invasion of Iraq, declaring on the
Senate floor, "[Saddam Hussein] possesses chemical and biological weapons
and is seeking nuclear weapons."

With the war underway, Biden was then the genius who passionately promoted
the ridiculous plan to partition Iraq into three areas based on religion
and ethnicity, attempting to Balkanize one of the strongest Arab states in
the world.

"He's a part of the old Democratic establishment," says retired Army Col.
Ann Wright, the State Department diplomat who reopened the U.S. embassy in
Kabul in 2002. Biden, she says, has "had a long history with foreign
affairs, [but] it's not the type of foreign affairs that I want."

Rahm Emanuel

Obama's appointment of Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff
is a clear sign that Clinton-era neoliberal hawks will be well-represented
at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. A former senior Clinton advisor, Emanuel is a
hard-line supporter of Israel's "targeted assassination" policy and
actually volunteered to work with the Israeli Army during the 1991 Gulf
War. He is close to the right-wing Democratic Leadership Council and was
the only member of the Illinois Democratic delegation in the Congress to
vote for the invasion of Iraq. Unlike many of his colleagues, Emanuel
still defends his vote. As chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee in 2006, Emanuel promoted the campaigns of 22 candidates, only
one of who supported a swift withdrawal from Iraq, and denied crucial
Party funding to anti-war candidates. "As for Iraq policy, at the right
time, we will have a position," he said in December 2005. As Philip
Giraldi recently pointed out on Antiwar.com, Emanuel "advocates increasing
the size of the U.S. Army by 100,000 soldiers and creating a domestic
spying organization like Britain's MI5. More recently, he has supported
mandatory paramilitary national service for all Americans between the ages
of 18 and 25."

While Obama has at times been critical of Clinton-era free trade
agreements, Emanuel was one of the key people in the Clinton White House
who brokered the successful passage of NAFTA.

Hillary Rodham Clinton

For all the buzz and speculation about the possibility that Sen. Clinton
may be named Secretary of State, most media coverage has focused on her
rivalry with Obama during the primary, along with the prospect of her
husband having to face the intense personal, financial and political
vetting process required to secure a job in the new administration. But
the question of how Clinton would lead the operations at Foggy Bottom
calls for scrutiny of her positions vis-a-vis Obama's stated
foreign-policy goals.

Clinton was an ardent defender of her husband's economic and military war
against Iraq throughout the 1990s, including the Iraq Liberation Act of
1998, which ultimately laid the path for President George W. Bush's
invasion. Later, as a U.S. senator, she not only voted to authorize the
war, but aided the Bush administration's propaganda campaign in the
lead-up to the invasion. "Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his
chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile-delivery capability and
his nuclear program," Clinton said when rising to support the measure in
October 2002. "He has also given aid, comfort and sanctuary to terrorists,
including al-Qaida members . I want to insure that Saddam Hussein makes no
mistake about our national unity and for our support for the president's
efforts to wage America's war against terrorists and weapons of mass
destruction."

"The man who vowed to deliver us from 28 years of Bushes and Clintons has
been stocking up on Clintonites," New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd
recently wrote. "How, one may ask, can he put Hillary - who voted to
authorize the Iraq war without even reading the intelligence assessment -
in charge of patching up a foreign policy and a world riven by that war?"

Beyond Iraq, Clinton shocked many and sparked official protests by Tehran
at the United Nations when asked during the presidential campaign what she
would do as president if Iran attacked Israel with nuclear weapons. "I
want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran,"
she declared. "In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly
consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally
obliterate them."

Clinton has not shied away from supporting offensive foreign policy
tactics in the past. Recalling her husband's weighing the decision of
whether to attack Yugoslavia, she said in 1999, "I urged him to bomb. .
You cannot let this go on at the end of a century that has seen the major
holocaust of our time. What do we have NATO for if not to defend our way
of life?"

Madeleine Albright

While Obama's house is flush with Clintonian officials like former
Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Defense Secretary William Perry,
Director of the State Department Office of Policy Planning Greg Craig (who
was officially named Obama's White House Counsel) and Navy Secretary
Richard Danzig, perhaps most influential is Madeleine Albright, Bill
Clinton's former Secretary of State and U.N. ambassador. Albright recently
served as a proxy for Obama, representing him at the G-20 summit earlier
this month. Whether or not she is awarded an official role in the
administration, Albright will be a major force in shaping Obama's foreign
policy.

"It will take time to convince skeptics that the promotion of democracy is
not a mask for imperialism or a recipe for the kind of chaos we have seen
in the Persian Gulf," Albright recently wrote. "And it will take time to
establish the right identity for America in a world that has grown
suspicious of all who claim a monopoly on virtue and that has become
reluctant to follow the lead of any one country."

Albright should know. She was one of the key architects in the dismantling
of Yugoslavia during the 1990s. In the lead-up to the 1999 "Kosovo war,"
she oversaw the U.S. attempt to coerce the Yugoslav government to deny its
own sovereignty in return for not being bombed. Albright demanded that the
Yugoslav government sign a document that would have been unacceptable to
any sovereign nation. Known as the Rambouillet Accord, it included a
provision that would have guaranteed U.S. and NATO forces "free and
unrestricted passage and unimpeded access throughout" all of Yugoslavia -
not just Kosovo - while also seeking to immunize those occupation forces
"from any form of arrest, investigation or detention by the authorities in
[Yugoslavia]." Moreover, it would have granted the occupiers "the use of
airports, roads, rails and ports without payment." Similar to Bush's Iraq
plan years later, the Rambouillet Accord mandated that the economy of
Kosovo "shall function in accordance with free-market principles."

When Yugoslavia refused to sign the document, Albright and others in the
Clinton administration unleashed the 78-day NATO bombing of Serbia, which
targeted civilian infrastructure. (Prior to the attack, Albright said the
U.S. government felt "the Serbs need a little bombing.") She and the
Clinton administration also supported the rise to power in Kosovo of a
terrorist mafia that carried out its own ethnic-cleansing campaign against
the province's minorities.

Perhaps Albright's most notorious moment came with her enthusiastic
support of the economic war against the civilian population of Iraq. When
confronted by Lesley Stahl of "60 Minutes" that the sanctions were
responsible for the deaths of "a half-million children . more children
than died in Hiroshima," Albright responded, "I think this is a very hard
choice, but the price - we think the price is worth it." (While defending
the policy, Albright later called her choice of words "a terrible mistake,
hasty, clumsy, and wrong.")

Richard Holbrooke

Like Albright, Holbrooke will have major sway over U.S. policy, whether or
not he gets an official job. A career diplomat since the Vietnam War,
Holbrooke's most recent government post was as President Clinton's
ambassador to the U.N. Among the many violent policies he helped implement
and enforce was the U.S.-backed Indonesian genocide in East Timor.
Holbrooke was an Assistant Secretary of State in the late 1970s at the
height of the slaughter and was the point man on East Timor for the Carter
Administration.

According to Brad Simpson, director of the Indonesia and East Timor
Documentation Project at the National Security Archive at George
Washington University, "It was Holbrooke and Zbigniew Brzezinski [another
top Obama advisor], both now leading lights in the Democratic Party, who
played point in trying to frustrate the efforts of congressional
human-rights activists to try and condition or stop U.S. military
assistance to Indonesia, and in fact accelerated the flow of weapons to
Indonesia at the height of the genocide."

Holbrooke, too, was a major player in the dismantling of Yugoslavia and
praised the bombing of Serb Television, which killed 16 media workers, as
a significant victory. (The man who ordered that bombing, now-retired Army
Gen. Wesley Clark, is another Obama foreign policy insider who could end
up in his cabinet. While Clark is known for being relatively progressive
on social issues, as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, he ordered bombings
and attacks that Amnesty International labeled war crimes.)

Like many in Obama's foreign policy circle, Holbrooke also supported the
Iraq war. In early 2003, shortly after then-Secretary of State Colin
Powell's speech to the UN, where he presented the administration's
fraud-laden case for war to the UN (a speech Powell has since called a
"blot" on his reputation), Holbrooke said: "It was a masterful job of
diplomacy by Colin Powell and his colleagues, and it does not require a
second vote to go to war. . Saddam is the most dangerous government leader
in the world today, he poses a threat to the region, he could pose a
larger threat if he got weapons of mass destruction deployed, and we have
a legitimate right to take action."

Dennis Ross

Middle East envoy for both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Ross was one
of the primary authors of Obama's aforementioned speech before AIPAC this
summer. He cut his teeth working under famed neoconservative Paul
Wolfowitz at the Pentagon in the 1970s and worked closely with the Project
for the New American Century. Ross has been a staunch supporter of Israel
and has fanned the flames for a more hostile stance toward Iran. As the
lead U.S. negotiator between Israel and numerous Arab nations under
Clinton, Ross' team acted, in the words of one U.S. official who worked
under him, as "Israel's lawyer."

"The 'no surprises' policy, under which we had to run everything by Israel
first, stripped our policy of the independence and flexibility required
for serious peacemaking," wrote U.S. diplomat Aaron David Miller in 2005.
"If we couldn't put proposals on the table without checking with the
Israelis first, and refused to push back when they said no, how effective
could our mediation be? Far too often, particularly when it came to
Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy, our departure point was not what was needed
to reach an agreement acceptable to both sides but what would pass with
only one - Israel." After the Clinton White House, Ross worked for the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a hawkish pro-Israel think
tank, and for FOX News, where he repeatedly pressed for war against Iraq.

Martin Indyk

Founder of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Indyk spent
years working for AIPAC and served as Clinton's ambassador to Israel and
Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, while also playing a
major role in developing U.S. policy toward Iraq and Iran. In addition to
his work for the U.S. government, he has worked for the Israeli government
and with PNAC.

"Barack Obama has painted himself into a corner by appealing to the most
hard-line, pro-Israel elements in this country," Ali Abunimah, founder of
ElectronicInifada.net, recently told Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!,
describing Indyk and Dennis Ross as "two of the most pro-Israel officials
from the Clinton era, who are totally distrusted by Palestinians and
others across the Middle East, because they're seen as lifelong advocates
for Israeli positions."

Anthony Lake

Clinton's former National Security Advisor was an early supporter of Obama
and one of the few top Clintonites to initially back the president-elect.
Lake began his foreign policy work in the U.S. Foreign Service during
Vietnam, working with Henry Kissinger on the "September Group," a secret
team tasked with developing a military strategy to deliver a "savage,
decisive blow against North Vietnam."

Decades later, after working for various administrations, Lake "was the
main force behind the U.S. invasion of Haiti in the mid-Clinton years,"
according to veteran journalist Allan Nairn, whose groundbreaking
reporting revealed U.S. support for Haitian death squads in the 1990s.
"They brought back Aristide essentially in political chains, pledged to
support a World Bank/IMF overhaul of the economy, which resulted in an
increase in malnutrition deaths among Haitians, and set the stage for the
current ongoing political disaster in Haiti." Clinton nominated Lake as
CIA Director, but he failed to win Senate confirmation.

Lee Hamilton

Hamilton is a former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and
was co-chairman of both the Iraq Study Group and 9/11 Commission. Robert
Parry, who has covered Hamilton's career extensively, recently ran a piece
on Consortium News that characterized him this way: "Whenever the
Republicans have a touchy national-security scandal to put to rest, their
favorite Democratic investigator is Lee Hamilton. . Hamilton's carefully
honed skill for balancing truth against political comity has elevated him
to the status of a Washington Wise Man."

Susan Rice

Former Assistant Secretary of Sate Susan Rice, who served on Bill
Clinton's National Security Council, is a potential candidate for the post
of ambassador to the U.N. or as a deputy national security advisor. She,
too, promoted the myth that Saddam had WMDs. "It's clear that Iraq poses a
major threat," she said in 2002. "It's clear that its weapons of mass
destruction need to be dealt with forcefully, and that's the path we're
on." (After the invasion, discussing Saddam's alleged possession of WMDs,
she said, "I don't think many informed people doubted that.")

Rice has also been a passionate advocate for a U.S. military attack
against Sudan over the Darfur crisis. In an op-ed co-authored with Anthony
Lake, she wrote, "The United States, preferably with NATO involvement and
African political support, would strike Sudanese airfields, aircraft and
other military assets. It could blockade Port Sudan, through which Sudan's
oil exports flow. Then U.N. troops would deploy - by force, if necessary,
with U.S. and NATO backing."

John Brennan

A longtime CIA official and former head of the National Counterterrorism
Center, Brennan is one of the coordinators of Obama's intelligence
transition team and a top contender for either CIA Director or Director of
National Intelligence. He was also recently described by Glenn Greenwald
as "an ardent supporter of torture and one of the most emphatic advocates
of FISA expansions and telecom immunity." While claiming to oppose
waterboarding, labeling it "inconsistent with American values" and
"something that should be prohibited," Brennan has simultaneously praised
the results achieved by "enhanced interrogation" techniques. "There has
been a lot of information that has come out from these interrogation
procedures that the agency has, in fact, used against the real hard-core
terrorists," Brennan said in a 2007 interview. "It has saved lives. And
let's not forget, these are hardened terrorists who have been responsible
for 9/11, who have shown no remorse at all for the death of 3,000
innocents."

Brennan has described the CIA's extraordinary rendition program - the
government-run kidnap-and-torture program enacted under Clinton - as an
absolutely vital tool. "I have been intimately familiar now over the past
decade with the cases of rendition that the U.S. Government has been
involved in," he said in a December 2005 interview. "And I can say without
a doubt that it has been very successful as far as producing intelligence
that has saved lives."

Brennan is currently the head of Analysis Corporation, a private
intelligence company that was recently implicated in the breach of Obama
and Sen. John McCain's passport records. He is also the current chairman
of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA), a trade
association of private intelligence contractors who have dramatically
increased their role in sensitive U.S. national security operations.
(Current Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell is former
chairman of the INSA.)

Jami Miscik

Miscik, who works alongside Brennan on Obama's transitional team, was the
CIA's Deputy Director for Intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war. She
was one of the key officials responsible for sidelining intel that
contradicted the official line on WMD, while promoting intel that backed
it up.

"When the administration insisted on an intelligence assessment of Saddam
Hussein's relationship to al-Qaida, Miscik blocked the skeptics (who were
later vindicated) within the CIA's Mideast analytical directorate and
instructed the less-skeptical counterterrorism analysts to 'stretch to the
maximum the evidence you had,' " journalist Spencer Ackerman recently
wrote in the Washington Independent. "It's hard to think of a more
egregious case of sacrificing sound intelligence analysis in order to
accommodate the strategic fantasies of an administration. . The idea that
Miscik is helping staff Obama's top intelligence picks is most certainly
not change we can believe in." What's more, she went on to a lucrative
post as the Global Head of Sovereign Risk for the now-bankrupt Lehman
Brothers.

John Kerry and Bill Richardson

Both Sen. Kerry and Gov. Richardson have been identified as possible
contenders for Secretary of State. While neither is likely to be as
hawkish as Hillary Clinton, both have taken pro-war positions. Kerry
promoted the WMD lie and voted to invade Iraq. "Why is Saddam Hussein
attempting to develop nuclear weapons when most nations don't even try?"
Kerry asked on the Senate floor in October 2002. "According to
intelligence, Iraq has chemical and biological weapons . Iraq is
developing unmanned aerial vehicles capable of delivering chemical and
biological warfare agents."

Richardson, whose Iraq plan during his 2008 presidential campaign was more
progressive and far-reaching than Obama's, served as Bill Clinton's
ambassador to the UN. In this capacity, he supported Clinton's December
1998 bombing of Baghdad and the U.S.-led sanctions against Iraq. "We think
this man is a threat to the international community, and he threatens a
lot of the neighbors in his region and future generations there with
anthrax and VX," Richardson told an interviewer in February 1998.

While Clinton's Secretary of Energy, Richardson publicly named Wen Ho Lee,
a scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, as a target in an
espionage investigation. Lee was accused of passing nuclear secrets to the
Chinese government. Lee was later cleared of those charges and won a
settlement against the U.S. government.

Robert Gates

Washington consensus is that Obama will likely keep Robert Gates, George
W. Bush's Defense Secretary, as his own Secretary of Defense. While Gates
has occasionally proved to be a stark contrast to former Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld, he would hardly represent a break from the
policies of the Bush administration. Quite the opposite; according to the
Washington Post, in the interest of a "smooth transition," Gates "has
ordered hundreds of political appointees at the Pentagon canvassed to see
whether they wish to stay on in the new administration, has streamlined
policy briefings and has set up suites for President-elect Barack Obama's
transition team just down the hall from his own E-ring office." The Post
reports that Gates could stay on for a brief period and then be replaced
by Richard Danzig, who was Clinton's Secretary of the Navy. Other names
currently being tossed around are Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, Republican
Sen. Chuck Hagel (a critic of the Iraq occupation) and Republican Sen.
Richard Lugar, who served alongside Biden on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee.

Ivo H. Daalder

Daalder was National Security Council Director for European Affairs under
President Clinton. Like other Obama advisors, he has worked with the
Project for the New American Century and signed a 2005 letter from PNAC to
Congressional leaders, calling for an increase in U.S. ground troops in
Iraq and beyond.

Sarah Sewall

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Peacekeeping and
Humanitarian Assistance during the Clinton administration, Sewall served
as a top advisor to Obama during the campaign and is almost certain to be
selected for a post in his administration. In 2007, Sewall worked with the
U.S. military and Army Gen. David Petraeus, writing the introduction to
the University of Chicago edition of the Army/Marine Corps
Counterinsurgency Field Manual. She was criticized for this collaboration
by Tom Hayden, who wrote, "the Petraeus plan draws intellectual legitimacy
from Harvard's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, whose director, Sarah
Sewall, proudly embraces an 'unprecedented collaboration [as] a human
rights center partnered with the armed forces.'"

"Humanitarians often avoid wading into the conduct of war for fear of
becoming complicit in its purpose," she wrote in the introduction. "'The
field manual requires engagement precisely from those who fear that its
words lack meaning."

Michele Flournoy

Flournoy and former Clinton Deputy Defense Secretary John White are
co-heading Obama's defense transition team. Flournoy was a senior Clinton
appointee at the Pentagon. She currently runs the Center for a New
American Security, a center-right think-tank. There is speculation that
Obama could eventually name her as the first woman to serve as defense
secretary. As the Wall Street Journal recently reported: "While at CNAS,
Flournoy helped to write a report that called for reducing the open-ended
American military commitment in Iraq and replacing it with a policy of
'conditional engagement' there. Significantly, the paper rejected the idea
of withdrawing troops according to the sort of a fixed timeline that Obama
espoused during the presidential campaign. Obama has in recent weeks
signaled that he was willing to shelve the idea, bringing him more in line
with Flournoy's thinking." Flournoy has also worked with the
neoconservative Project for the New American Century.

Wendy Sherman and Tom Donilon

Currently employed at Madeline Albright's consulting firm, the Albright
Group, Sherman worked under Albright at the State Department, coordinating
U.S. policy on North Korea. She is now coordinating the State Department
transition team for Obama. Tom Donilon, her co-coordinator, was Assistant
Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Chief of Staff at the State
Department under Clinton. Interestingly, Sherman and Donilon both have
ties to Fannie Mae that didn't make it onto their official bios on Obama's
change.gov Web site. "Donilon was Fannie's general counsel and executive
vice president for law and policy from 1999 until the spring of 2005, a
period during which the company was rocked by accounting problems,"
reports the Wall Street Journal.

***

While many of the figures at the center of Obama's foreign policy team are
well-known, two of its most important members have never held national
elected office or a high-profile government position. While they cannot be
characterized as Clinton-era hawks, it will be important to watch Denis
McDonough and Mark Lippert, co-coordinators of the Obama foreign policy
team. From 2000 to 2005, McDonough served as foreign policy advisor to
Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle and worked extensively on the
use-of-force authorizations for the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq, both
of which Daschle supported. From 1996 to 1999, McDonough was a
professional staff member of the House International Relations Committee
during the debate over the bombing of Yugoslavia. More recently, he was at
the Center for American Progress working under John Podesta, Clinton's
former chief of staff and the current head of the Obama transition.

Mark Lippert is a close personal friend of Obama's. He has worked for
Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, as well as the Senate Appropriations Committee
and the Democratic Policy Committee. He is a lieutenant in the Navy
Reserve and spent a year in Iraq working intelligence for the Navy SEALs.
"According to those who've worked closely with Lippert," Robert Dreyfuss
recently wrote in The Nation, "he is a conservative, cautious centrist who
often pulled Obama to the right on Iraq, Iran and the Middle East and who
has been a consistent advocate for increased military spending. 'Even
before Obama announced for the presidency, Lippert wanted Obama to be seen
as tough on Iran,' says a lobbyist who's worked the Iran issue on Capitol
Hill, 'He's clearly more hawkish than the senator.' "

***

Barack Obama campaigned on a pledge to bring change to Washington. "I
don't want to just end the war," he said early this year. "I want to end
the mindset that got us into war." That is going to be very difficult if
Obama employs a foreign policy team that was central to creating that
mindset, before and during the presidency of George W. Bush.

"Twenty-three senators and 133 House members who voted against the war -
and countless other notable individuals who spoke out against it and the
dubious claims leading to war - are apparently not even being considered
for these crucial positions," observes Sam Husseini of the Institute for
Public Accuracy. This includes dozens of former military and intelligence
officials who spoke out forcefully against the war and continue to oppose
militaristic policy, as well as credible national security experts who
have articulated their visions for a foreign policy based on justice.

Obama does have a chance to change the mindset that got us into war. More
significantly, he has a popular mandate to forcefully challenge the
militaristic, hawkish tradition of modern U.S. foreign policy. But that
work would begin by bringing on board people who would challenge this
tradition, not those who have been complicit in creating it and are bound
to continue advancing it.

Jeremy Scahill pledges to be the same journalist under an Obama
administration that he was during Bill Clinton and George Bush's
presidencies. He is the author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most
Powerful Mercenary Army and is a frequent contributor to The Nation and
Democracy Now! He is a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at the Nation
Institute.


--------19 of 19--------

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 needs us to hold our noses
 against the odor


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