We have rescheduled the Afghan program for Monday, March 7. We will be announcing a location for this rescheduled event in the near future, and will be sharing more details on a future news conference as we work out details.
 
In the meantime, please continue to take whatever actions you can to become better informed on the issues and please act to promote peace.
 
We also hope you will travel safely and keep warm as intense winter weather returns this week. (thanks to our friend Mark Haim for forwarding this note, which I've edited just a bit).

 
Thank you as well for what you do to better our world—in your own home among your loved ones, in your communities and the broader global society.
 
In solidarity and hope,  
Jeff Stack, coordinator
Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation
573-449-4585
 
1) Urge Pres. Obama to Support UN resolution condemning further expansion on Israeli settlement in Palestinian occupied lands.
A resolution is before the UN Security Council that opposes Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, echoing longstanding U.S. positions. But President Obama is under pressure to veto the resolution from political forces that seek to maintain the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Urge President Obama to support the UN resolution. Log onto
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/noveto
 
For more information, log onto
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/can-us-support-un-resolut_b_813233.html
 
2) Support the democratic nonviolent struggles of Egyptians and the stepping down of the dicatorship of Pres. Hosni Mubarak, who's held power for three decades. Log onto the following international petition from Avaaz, urging their governments to support democratic reforms….
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/democracy_for_egypt/?r=act
To check out developments there live, log onto Aljazeera's website..
http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/ <http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/>
 
Check out also a report from the British Guardian newspaper, based on an interview with Mohamed ElBaradei, an Egyptian democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He challenges US and other officials to support the Egyptian people rather than the corrupt Mubarak government (recipient of the 2nd most US foreign aid). To read the story log onto… http://www.truth-out.org/mohamed-elbaradei-if-not-now-when67255
 
3) Advocate that war-traumatized US Troops receive needed health care NOT Redeployment orders to war
The Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) several weeks ago initiated "Operation Recovery" in support of war-traumatized troops. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are continuing through the use of exhausted troops who have been on multiple tours of duty and suffer deeply from the trauma of war.  Thousands of soldiers are being denied their right to heal by the U.S. military so it can continue its ongoing occupations. Join IVAW in supporting soldiers; take the pledge
https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5966/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4159
 
4) Urge US officials to ensure humane treatment of Bradley Manning, the Army private who allegedly gave a massive trove of US secret documents to WikiLeaks
(if he did so, he should be treated as a hero not a criminal).
Read more about Amnesty International's report of concern and letter to Sec. of Defense Robert Gates, by logging onto:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/006/2011/en <http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/006/2011/en>  
and for more info on the case…
http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/us-accused-inhumane-treatment-over-wikileaks-soldier-case-2011-01-24 <http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/us-accused-inhumane-treatment-over-wikileaks-soldier-case-2011-01-24>
 
5) Check out the Flash Mob last month in a St. Louis mall to Protest Corporate Support of Israel's Apartheid of Palestinian People.
The St. Louis Solidarity Committee went Gaga in Best Buy and AT&T in St. Louis in mid-December (sorry for my late relaying of this). More than forty foiks gathered at Best Buy and AT&T urging holiday shoppers to Boycott Israeli Apartheid and Hang Up on Motorola!
They got down to Lady Gaga's "Telephone" , following up on the Philadelphia's Boycott Divestment and Sanctions group's inspiring example. Log on…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGAdfvGQ-xg <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGAdfvGQ-xg>

6) Witness Against Torture just concluded their two-week Fast for Justice
It was a bittersweet action, the group reports. Bitter because we have not succeeded in shutting down Guantanamo or shuttering Bagram or delivering justice to those indefinitely detained. Still the resistance to the Bush and now Obama policies grow. Check out their website at http://www.witnesstorture.org <http://www.witnesstorture.org>  and log onto their Flicker url to see various thoughts from those who participated…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99577116@N00/sets/72157625901100942/show/

7) Haiti Notes:
Election update: US and OAS support odd line-up of candidates in run-off election.
Center for Economic and Policy Research reports in their Analysis of the (Organization of American States) OAS Mission's Draft Final Report on Haiti's Election, there is no legal, statistical, or other logical basis for its conclusion that candidate Michel Martelly finished second and Jude Celestin third. For more details, log onto:
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/press-releases/press-releases/cepr-examines-oas-report-on-haitis-election-finds-it-qinconclusive-statistically-flawed-and-indefensibleq
 
Jean Bertrand Aristide, the elected and US-deposed former president wants to return home (he certainly has more a right to do so than does the already returned war-criminal "Baby Doc" Duvalier. Read more via Reuters, logging on at
http://www.pretorianews.co.za/aristide-wants-to-return-home-1.1014290
 
8) The "Creech 14," Protesting US Drone Attacks Found Guilty, Sentenced to Time Served.
From Las Vegas, Nevada: Judge William Jansen found 14 people guilty of trespass for April 2009 demonstration at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada, protesting the remote piloting of armed killer drones from Creech in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. To learn more, log on… http://www.nukeresister.org/2011/01/27/creech-14-guilty-sentenced-to-time-served/ <http://www.nukeresister.org/2011/01/27/creech-14-guilty-sentenced-to-time-served/>
 
9) Turkish government finds Israeli commandos culpable of unprovoked violent in May attacks on Gaza Strip humanitarian flotilla
For a report from the Christian Science Monitor earlier this past week, log onto:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0125/Turkey-releases-report-on-flotilla-incident-accusing-Israel
 
IN PICTURES: The Gaza flotilla and the aftermath of the Israeli naval raid—log on:
http://www.csmonitor.com/CSM-Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/The-Gaza-flotilla-and-the-aftermath-of-the-Israeli-naval-raid

We invite you to attend any of a few upcoming mid-Missouri events promoting peace and compassionate support for US troops. We hope to see you in these settings next week.

In hopes of good health and joy for you and your loved ones. In struggle for peace with justice and in solidarity,
Jeff Stack
Mid-MO Fellowship of Reconciliation
573-449-4585

1) Attend "Rethinking Afghanistan—The Human Costs of War," Monday, Jan. 31st beginning at 6:30 in Rm. 104 of Arts &
Science (A&S) building on the MU campus. The educational evening commences with a showing of the acclaimed documentary "Rethink Afghanistan" by Robert Greenwald, which examines the impact of the nine-year war on Afghanistan and
the United States.
 
A discussion will follow at approximately 7:30, with presentations by Maihan Abdullah, M.D., a Fulbright Scholar from Afghanistan, currently studying at MU, and William Stewart-Starks, an Army veteran and Plains States regional coordinator with Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). Stewart is also a national organizer with IVAW's Operation Recovery, advocating that war-traumatized veterans not be re-deployed to combat in Afghanistan or Iraq. Sponsored by the Columbia Peace Coalition.

2) Join us for a news conference-- informing Mid-Missouri of "Operation Recovery," a national, veteran-led initiative advocating that war-traumatized vets not be redeployed to war zones-- will take place at 9:30 am, Tuesday, February 1 in Conference Room A of the Daniel Boone Regional Library in Columbia.
 
The conference will feature: Will Stewart-Starks, who was an active duty combat medic in Iraq, now living in Lawrence KS and serving both as a
regional leader with Iraq War Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and a national organizer with IVAW's "Operation Recovery;" Russ Breyfogle of Columbia, a veteran and social worker for 20 years at the Fulton State Mental Hospital (who worked with many traumatized veterans as a therapist); and Steve Jacobs, a veteran and registered nurse who worked at the VA hospital for 7 years as a psychiatric nurse, frequently treating veterans psychologically traumatized by war. He's also a community member of the St. Francis Catholic Worker which operates a hospitality house for homeless men, many of whom are veterans.; and Steve Jacobs of Columbia, who is a registered nurse and worked with the Veterans Administration for seven years as a psychiatric nurse, frequently treating veterans psychologically traumatized by war. Bill Wickersham of Columbia, an educational psychologist and leader of the local chapter of Veterans for Peace (VFP) will facilitate the conference.
 
"Operation Recovery" strives to encourage US political and military leaders to allow traumatized veterans to get the psychological and/or medical
treatment they need rather then be re-deployed to combat in Afghanistan, Iraq or elsewhere. Thousands of exhausted troops have been on multiple tours of duty and suffer deeply from the trauma of war. Many are being denied their right to heal by the U.S. military so it can continue the ongoing
occupations. For more information on the project log onto http://www.ivaw.org/operation-recovery.

3) Attend Weekly Peace Vigils, happening in Mid-Missouri:

Saturdays
Columbia from 10-11 am in front of Columbia's Post Office on Walnut St.

Wednesdays  
Jefferson City from 12 Noon-1, Post Office, High St.  

Columbia from 4:30-5:30 pm at  Broadway and Providence.

Fulton 2nd Wed. (next one 2/9) 4:15-5:15 Callaway Co. Courthouse, Market & 5th St.