Veterans for Peace the Hector Black Chapter

Cindy Piester of the VFP Climate Crisis and Militarism Project on COP thoroughly discusses the progress (yes there was some) and the problems (yes there are still many) of COP 28.

The Summit on Nuclear Deterrence was just last week and "WE" were there to witness the insanity and the "evil." Harvey Bennett joined Greg Mello, Executive Director of the Los Alamos Study Group, and journalist Jim Carrier, who attended the three-day "summit" to hear members of the nuclear industrial complex and the Federal Government talk about nuclear war and deterrence. Can you imagine that they actually believe that we need to be ready to fight a nuclear war and win it? Hear that and a few voices of reason on what our country is doing in your name and with your tax dollars.

Krishna Madan educator, activist, and member of VFP joins Harvey and Jim to discuss a number of issues but primarily it is the Middle East. Krishna points out the history of Israel that Americans have been denied showing that the US public has been manipulated for more than 70 years to generate our un-questioning support for Israel. He turns the tables on Hamas using human shields and shows how Israel actually is the one using human shields. AND MORE including a song from Ireland to support the people of Palestine.

Professor Peter Kuznich joins the Veterans for Peace No Nukes group to discuss the movie Oppenheimer. He points out the good points of Christopher Nolan's blockbuster and also points out what he considers its deficiencies. With all that he recommends the movie and says he needs to see it several more times. Please note this does not include the QA after his discussion.

Do you know the long-term hazards of depleted uranium? Do you know what it is used for and why it is so popular with the US and other warring countries? Damacio Lopez joined the Veterans for Peace No Nukes Working Group for a discussion about depleted uranium and his 37-year fight to get this deadly element banned. He is joined by other members of the No Nukes group during this lively and abridged conversation.

Here we are another Memorial Day. This year we have as our guests Matt Hoh, Associate Director of the Eisenhower Media Network, and Mike Ferner, interim Executive Director of Veterans for Peace discussing the mistaken message of today's Memorial Day. We will not only get their take on the devolution of this "holiday" but we will also go into the letter to President Biden, generated by the Eisenhower Media Network that appeared in the NY Times demanding a cease-fire and negotiations. Matt Hoh as Associate Director was instrumental in getting this letter into the Times and apparently, it is having an effect.

We talk to members of two very active chapters of Veterans for Peace, Tom Charles and Hollis Higgins of Spokane Washington, and John Wilks of Albuquerque. In Spokane, Tom has led the effort to get an ordinance passed to outlaw the nuclear weapons industry. Then John Wilks talks about the wasteland that the nuclear industry has made of New Mexico and their extensive efforts to educate the people and get this stopped. Both these chapters show what Veterans for Peace can do with some unity and energy.

K.J. NOH returns to the show to update us on US relations or let's say US provocations of China. KJ talks about the recent China negotiations that led to a thawing of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. This and of course the Chinese proposal for peace in Ukraine are triggering the US. He points out how the US continues to manipulate Pacific countries from Korea to Australia into provocative actions trying to provoke an action by China.

Harvey Bennett and Jim Wohlgemuth discuss military "service" and activism for peace with Greg Payton of VVAW and the War Resistors League. Greg describes his military service in Vietnam and in military racism and how it changed him and how he was saved by getting involved in peace activism around the world. Greg describes his efforts from the US, to South Africa, to Bosnia, Ireland and yes Vietnam.

This is the full interview conducted by Jim Wohlgemuth and Harvey Bennett with Dr. Kelly Denton-Borhaug on Moral Injury and the US War Culture. Dr. Denton-Borhaug is the author of several books and many articles. This interview does center on her book And Then Your Soul is Gone and includes discussion on what moral injury is and how veterans and current military suffer from it and the devastating effects. She also discusses the US War Culture and how Christianity has been manipulated to support the War Culture, despite the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who blessed peace makers. All we can hope for is that the message that Dr. Kelly is sharing in her books and her articles will catch on and we can get our selves of this endless cycle of endless war. Her website is: https://www.moravian.edu/religion/faculty/denton-borhaug. Her articles are in Tomdispatch.com,

Lillian Mauldin and Rosie Khan join the Veterans for Peace Podcast to share their story to pressure the University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Management Company (UTIMCO) to divest from weapons and weapon systems manufacturers! Sharing their research and tactics they continue to work with their colleagues at the Women for Weapons Trade Transparency to bring to light the over $60 million dollars being invested in weaponry and war making. They also share how you or your students can do the same at your university.

Dr. Joseph Gerson gave a thorough presentation on the history, status, and clear and present danger of nuclear weapons. He also shows how the challenge and danger we face with nuclear weapons is connected to all our challenges from climate to justice. Dr, Gerson is President of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Securityand Vice-President of the International Peace Bureau. Since 1976 he has served theAmerican Friends Service Committeeas director of the Peace and Economic Security Program His books include With Hiroshima Eyes: Atomic War, Nuclear Extortion and Moral Imagination and Empire and the Bomb: How the U.S. Uses Nuclear Weapons to Dominate the World.

The VFP No Nukes group hosted Ralph Hutchison of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance to discuss the results of the States Party meeting on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Susan Schnall President of Veterans for Peace and Doug Rawlings, co founder of Veterans for Peace join us to talk about Veterans for Peace, the history, the projects, the future. From the No Nukes and Golden Rule to Saving our VA, collaborating with other groups while mediating disagreements, Susan outlines a vision for VFP. From how the organization started, to encouraging and welcoming young people to a poem, Doug shares his incites and pride in how VFP has developed into a force for peace.

Veterans for Peace No-Nukes working group hosted Dr. Lawrence Wittner for a talk about nuclear weapons, the history, the failures to act, the positive actions, and the work to be done. Dr Wittner is a prominent American historian who has combined intellectual life with activism for peace and social justice. Receiving his PHD from Columbia, Dr. Wittner has taught at Hampton Institute, Vassar College and the University of Tokyo before settling down at the State University of New York/Albany, where he rose to the rank of Professor of History before his retirement in 2010. Professor Wittner is the author of nine books, the editor or co-editor of another four, and the writer of about 400published articles and book reviews. His most ambitious scholarly project thus far has been his Struggle Against the Bomb trilogy (One World or None, Resisting the Bomb, and Toward Nuclear Abolition), a history of the worldwide nuclear disarmament movement.

Harvey Bennett and Jim Wohlgemuth of the Veterans for Peace, Chapter 089 Podcast meet with former VFP President Adrienne Kinney who is just back from Western Sahara. Adrienne was part of a four person group who went to Western Sahara to break the siege of Sultana Haya who has been confined in her home for almost a year and a half by Moroccan occupiers and repressors. Adrienne discusses the situation on the ground, the non violent resistance of the Western Saharan people and the brutal occupation of Morocco and the complicity or ignorance of western world and the UN.