Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 14. september 2010 / Timeline September 14, 2010
Version 3.513. September 2010, 15. September 2010
09/14/2010
Vegas drone trial makes history
http://blogs.lasvegascitylife.com/cityblog/2010/09/14/vegas-drone-trial-makes-history/comment-page-1/#comment-39790
Posted by Jason Whited
Fourteen anti-war activists may have made history today in a Las
Vegas courtroom when they turned a misdemeanor trespassing trial
into a possible referendum on America’s newfound taste for
remote-controlled warfare.
The so-called Creech 14, a group of peace activists from
across the country, went on trial this morning for allegedly
trespassing onto Creech Air Force Base in April 2009.
From the start of today’s trial, prosecutors did their best
to keep the focus on whether the activists were guilty of
allegations they illegally entered the base and refused to leave as
a way to protest the base’s role as the little-known
headquarters for U.S. military operations involving unmanned aerial
vehicles, or drones, over Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.
But a funny thing happened on the way to prosecutors’ hope
for a quick decision.
Appearing as witnesses for the Creech 14 today were some of the
biggest names in the modern anti-war movement: Ramsey Clark, former
U.S. attorney general under President Lyndon Johnson; Ann Wright, a
retired U.S. Army colonel and one of three former U.S. State
Department officials who resigned on the eve of the 2003 invasion
of Iraq; and Bill Quigley, legal director for the New York
City-based Center for Constitutional Rights.
By the time those three witnesses finished their testimony as to
why they believed the activists had protested at the base,
they’d managed to convince Las Vegas Township Justice Court
Judge William Jansen to delay his verdict for four months —
and had managed clearly to frustrate prosecutors.
For the better part of the day, Clark, Wright and Quigley testified
under direct questioning from witnesses and a surly
cross-examination from the Clark County district attorney’s
office.
Each witness spoke eloquently, and at length, about the need for
nonviolent civil disobedience in the face of criminal actions by
the U.S. government — which is how most in today’s
anti-war movement and many international observers have
characterized America’s drone war.
“[People] are allowed to trespass if it’s for the
greater good — and there are certainly exceptions [to the
law] when there is an emerging, urgent need,” said Quigley,
while on the stand.
By all accounts, the Creech 14 trial is the first time in history
an American judge has allowed a trial to touch on possible
motivations of anti-drone protesters.
No one knows how Jansen will ultimately rule, but most took it as a
good sign when, at the end of the day’s proceedings, applause
flooded the courtroom and Jansen sent the Creech 14 — all of
them part of a robust Catholic anti-war movement — on their
way by echoing the words of Jesus Christ with his call of “Go
in peace!”
09/14/2010
Besparelser?
Af Holger Terp - glad og flittig bruger af biblioteket i
Friheden
De konservative i Hvidovre har fantasiforladt foreslået, at
spare i de kommunale budgetter for de kommende år ved at
lukke to velfungerende og meget benyttede filialer i
biblioteksvæsnet.
Siden hvornår er det blevet konservativ politik at spare
på kulturen?
Forslaget rummer efter min bedste vurdering ingen besparelser.
Hvidovre er som bekendt en meget lang kommune med ringe offentlig
busdrift. Det indebærer, at filialernes mange brugere fra
daginstitutioner, skoler, plejehjem mm. skal bruge meget tid og
mange ressourcer på at komme ned på hovedbiblioteket og
hjem igen. Og det skal de to gange. Når der lånes
dokumenter, og når de skal afleveres igen.
Det er muligt, at der ad åre kan spares nogle meget få
kroner på kommunalbudgetterne, om bibliotekerne lukkes, men
til gengæld kommer Hvidovres borgere til at betale regningen
herfor, hvad enten de bruger bibliotekernes mange tilbud som
underholdning eller som et led i deres uddannelse.
Det er efter min overbevisning kun nogle meget få personer
som vil lukke biblioteksfilialerne i Hvidovre. Flertallet vil
bevare dem.
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