Archive for the 'Iraq' Category

On September 28, 2006, independent journalist Dahr Jamail spoke at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine on the SITUATION IN IRAQ. This program is the one given at 12:30 pm in the Memorial Union (not the 7:30 pm program).

Dahr Jamail is a rare human being. When he saw that there was a colossal tradgedy unfolding in Iraq, the extent of which barely being reported, he decided to go to work and take on the job of reporting from Iraq himself. Local artist Robert Shetterly has included Dahr Jamail in his stunning exhibit on Americans Who Tell the Truth.

It was a pleasure to meet Dahr Jamail. Please keep his website, http://dahrjamailiraq.com/, on your list of regular reads. It has essential information you will be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. Please download and listen to this extraordinary podcast.

74 min; 28 MB; 48kbps mp3; download link here ->

Continue reading ‘Dahr Jamail: the situation in Iraq’

The regular Thursday series at the University of Maine on March 23, 2006 featured a panel discussion, “The Iraq War: Lessons Three Years after the U.S. Invasion and Occupation”. Presentations by Ilze Petersons, Coordinator, Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine; Michael Howard, philosophy, University of Maine; Alex Grab, history, University of Maine; and Doug Allen, philosophy, University of Maine are included in this archive podcast.

My favorite part of this panel is where Ilze recounts the amazing array of peace and justice work that is done by thousands of people day-in, day-out, every day all over the state of Maine:

ILZE PETERSONS: …those of us who remember the many years it took to build the movement to end the war in Vietnam, to gain women’s suffrage, to enact civil rights legislation, are heartened by the strength of the growing peace & justice movement. More than ten weekly peace vigils have been held in communities around the state for the past four years–in Presque Isle, in Houlton, in Harrington, …, Deer Isle, Brunwick, Waterville, Farmington, Portland, and every Tuesday in front of the Federal Building in Bangor [at 5 pm]….

New organizations have sprung up in local communities across the nation… And following the lead of Cindy Sheehan, is the organization Military Families Speak Out, which will be sponsoring the event at [the talk by US Senator Susan Collins in Orono] today….

And as we all know, there’s been a steady stream of articulate letters to the editor, opeds, many have signed petitions, called and visited Congressional offices, held readings of Iraq war dead, planted flags on lawns, travelled to Augusta, New York, and Washington DC, held Chains of Concern, formed Bridges of Peace, attended town meetings, held hearings.

One of the most effective, successful collaborations was the statewide response was when the University of Maine had planned a conference on doing business in Iraq, and people from around the state got together, and stopped it. And it just shows the power that we have when we unite.

43 min; 10 MB; 32 kbps mp3; download link here ->