Jonathan Talbot / Protest Against War in Iraq

JONATHAN TALBOT / PERSONAL GLIMPSES
Activities in and out of the Studio

Opposing the War in Iraq & Bearing Witness for Freedom

And this is just the money cost! What about the human cost which is so much greater? --JT

In an effort to stay informed about what is really happening in Iraq, on August 22, 2007 Marsha and I attended a talk given by Nesreen (in order to protect her family in Iraq she only provides her first name), an Iraqi school teacher and one of only 180 Iraqis given visas to visit the United States this year.

I asked Nesreen what she will tell her family and friends about Americans when she returns to Iraq. She responded that she will tell them that she has met "many wonderful Americans who are very concerned about what is happening in Iraq and that the Americans are just like the Iraqis... Powerless!"

She went on to say that she has seen pictures of our demonstrations against the war and she has heard many people speak out against the war but all our efforts to change what our government is doing appear to be futile. That is why she sees us as powerless. She also said that as bad as things were under Sadaam Hussein, they are worse now.

For more information go to the blog of 121contact (one-to-one contact), an organization which offers new insights into the realities of political violence.

At left: Marsha, Nesreen, and I in Warwick, NY. Photo: Bruce Wallace

Here I am at the U.S. Army War College in the Spring of 2001.
To read more about this event and why I support the troops but not the war, Click Here

As a result of her defense of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, attorney Lynne Stewart (to my left in this photo) has been convicted and sentenced to 28 months in prison for providing "material aid to terrorism." ///// ///// Michael Avery, President of the National Lawyers Guild has said "The U.S. Department of Justice was resolute from day one in making a symbol out of Lynne Stewart in support of its campaign to deny people charged with crimes of effective legal representation." Andrew P. Napolitano, a former judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey and an analyst for Fox News has called Lynne's prosecution "a travesty."

///// /////The prosecution of an attorney for vigorously defending her client (a lawful obligation of every defense attorney) sets a precedent which could undermine the entire legal system of the United States. This is a time when all citizens of good intentions must stand and bear witness against those who would arrogantly destroy the fabric of American society in order to consolidate their own power.

///// ///// To learn more visit www.lynnestewart.org

The recent political changes in the United States and the World have prompted me to turn the space within this border into an evolving bulletin board/diary reflecting my feelings and thoughts about those changes. To provide continuity I will preserve those messages which previously appeared here on a separate page which can be reached by clicking on the link at the end of this section.

--Jonathan Talbot
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Post # 10: January 10, 2007 / I await what I expect to be Bush's further attempts (in his speech to be made this evening) to justify the military adventurism he has built on a foundation of lies and obfuscation. While I wait, I reflect on Bush's actions and find that by slightly transforming the words of John F. Kennedy I can characterize the actions of current resident of the White House...
	"Those who make peaceful evolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

Post # 9: January 7, 2007 / A quote from a speech by Bill Moyers at New York University's Brennan Center for Justice on 12.12.2006 which I was fortunate to be able to attend.

"...because of the great disparities in wealth, the "shining city on the hill" has become a gated community whose privileged occupants, surrounded by a moat of money and protected by a political system seduced with cash into subservience, are removed from the common life of the country.

Note: The "shining city on the hill" is a reference to America as described by Ronald Regan. Regan's vision of America as a "shining city on the hill" was taken from the words of Puritan leader John Winthrop written aboard the Arabella as he and his companions set forth for America in 1630. Winthrop's words were themselves sourced in the account of the Sermon on the Mount which appears in Matthew 5:14-16.

Post # 8: January 7, 2007 / A quote from Martin Luther King which is just as true today as it was when King said it.
	"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." --Martin Luther King, Jr., April 4, 1967

Post # 7: November 22, 2006 / With Congressman-Elect John Hall
	Marsha and I with John Hall, congressman-elect from the 19th Congressional District of New York. We supported John Hall's candidacy because of his support for the arts and his commitment to ending the war in Iraq. His opponent Sue Kelly voted time after time to support the policies of the current administration. We are glad John won the election. Photo by Betty Hurd taken just before election day, 2006
Post # 6: May 30, 2006 / Outside the Gates at West Point
Here I am marching outside the gates at West Point to protest George Bush's presence there on May 27, 2006. Unlike protests during the Vietnam War era, we made it very clear that it is not the troops we are protesting against... It is their "commander- in-chief". The sign to my right says a lot... "Honor the Dead, Heal the Wounded, End the War." It is now over three years since Bush invaded Iraq. What a tragedy for the United States, Iraq, and the rest of the world. Sadly, while the media covered Bush's speech in detail, it gave the protest almost no coverage. One could almost begin to think that someone is effectively muzzeling the press. Photo: Courtesy of Econosmith.
Post # 5: July 7, 2005 / The day of the attacks on London's Transportation System I am saddened by this morning's attacks. Once again, conflict between idealogues of opposing views has claimed new innocent victims. It is simplistic to say (as Bush said this morning), that we are "right" and they are "wrong." It appears to me that there is "wrongness" on both sides. Both sides need to recognize the nature of their responsibility for the current state of affairs instead of continuing to blindly blame each other. How many more people will die before that happens? Post # 4: March 19, 2005 It is the second anniversary of Bush's invasion of Iraq and I am still marching to protest the war. Here I can be seen (see circle) marching with many others in New Paltz, NY (about an hour from my home) on March 19, 2005. Photo: Econosmith.
To Read Previous Posts Click Here

To better understand my pro-troops/anti-war position
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Some of the more articulate statements I have read about the war in Iraq have been made by two U.S. Senators, Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont.

To read a speech by Senator Byrd
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To read a speech by Senator Jeffords
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To reach the website of Jonathan Talbot | click here |
For additional information contact Jonathan Talbot at jonathan@talbot1.com