You’re invited to join us this Wednesday, Nov. 11th at 7:00pm for a Conversation in our studios between Robert Greenwald and long-time activist and author, Tom Hayden.
The ultimate 60s activist, Tom went on to serve in the California State Legislature for eighteen years. He’ll share the insights gleaned from his forty years of activism and politics as outlined in his newest book, The Long Sixties: From 1960 to Barack Obama.
A riveting look at that revolutionary era, The Long Sixties makes the case that Barack Obama was possible only because of the stunning social changes born in that game-changing decade – and you can hear about what that means for social movements today straight from the man who helped define the Sixties movement.
This is one Brave New Conversation not to be missed.
Event details:
Date: Wednesday, November 11th at 7:00 pm Please arrive on time. We are filming this event and will shut the studio door promptly at 7:00 pm.
Parking: There is free parking on the streets on either side of our building.
Please do not park behind the building as those parking spots are reserved.
Join us this Thursday, November 12th for a special screening of our breakthrough documentary, Rethink Afghanistan. We’ll be joined by several compelling voices speaking out against the war: Daniel Ellsberg, Matthew Hoh, Sonali Kolhatkar and our very own Robert Greenwald.
After eight long years, and with words like “quagmire” and “new Vietnam” now being used to describe the situation in Afghanistan, the time is ripe for change. By educating people with our groundbreaking film and sharing the powerful voices of those who dare to speak out — this is how an opposition movement to the war will be built.
Featured Speakers:
Daniel Ellsberg, the man who helped bring about an end to both the Nixon presidency and the Vietnam War when he leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times, a 7,000-page classified history outlining the true extent of US involvement in Vietnam.
Matthew Hoh, who recently became the first known US official to resign in protest of the Afghan war. Matthew has been featured in The Washington Post, on CNN and all over the media in recent weeks outlining his position against the war.
Sonali Kolhatkar, the founder, host and producer of the radio show Uprising at KPFK-FM, Pacifica Radio. Sonali is also the co-director of the Afghan Women’s Mission, which works in solidarity with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan.
Robert Greenwald, producer, director and political activist as well as founder and president of Brave New Foundation, a new media company that uses media to educate, influence, and empower viewers to take action around issues that matter.
You can help inspire the courage and conviction needed to stand up and speak out against the injustice being done to the people of Afghanistan by attending this important screening. We usually do not charge for our events, but we need to raise more money to make a difference with our efforts in this area. Donation suggestion for admission is only $20, and you’ll receive a FREE copy of the Rethink Afghanistan DVD to take home to share.
Prior to the screening there will be a reception where you’ll have the rare opportunity to meet Daniel Ellsberg, Matthew Hoh, Sonali Kolhatkar and Robert Greenwald. Hear their thoughts in a more intimate setting for a donation of just $100, and receive a year-long subscription to our Brave New Conversations series as well.
Event Details:
Date: Thursday, November 12th
Reception: 6:30 pm — $100 Limited Capacity
Includes screening admittance and both a copy of Rethink Afghanistan and a year-long subscription to our Brave New Conversations series for FREE!
Screening: 7:30 pm — $20 Pre-pay now for a guaranteed seat
Followed by our special guest panel with Daniel Ellsberg, Matthew Hoh and Sonali Kolhatkar. Includes a FREE copy of Rethink Afghanistan.
Location: Venice United Methodist Church
1020 Victoria Avenue — Venice, CA 90291
A restive antiwar movement, largely dormant since the election of Barack Obama, is preparing a nationwide campaign this fall to challenge the administration’s policies on Afghanistan.
“Rethink Afghanistan,” …is being produced and released in segments by the political documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald. In six episodes so far, Mr. Greenwald has used interviews with academics, Afghans and former C.I.A. operatives to raise questions about civilian casualties, women’s rights, the cost of war and whether it has made the United States safer.
The episodes, some as short as two minutes, are circulated via Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and blogs. Antiwar groups are also screening them with members of Congress.
I do have one quibble with the NYT’s characterization of the movement, however. Many of the groups mentioned have been consistent in their opposition to war, regardless of whether a Democrat or Republican sat in the White House. While it’s true that many have been reluctant to publicly oppose President Obama, others have stood on street corners, badgered their representatives, held screenings of Rethink Afghanistan in their local communities, and worked against a massive public desire to sink into obliviousness now that George W. Bush is back in Texas. As Robert put it in the NYT piece, it’s been “lonely out there,” and the folks who’ve been out there from the beginning deserve a pat on the back for helping to swing public opinion against this war.
That’s not to say that there aren’t people working to kill the energy of the nascent movement to end the war in Afghanistan. Even some who were with us on Iraq are trying to stop the turning of the tide:
“People do not want to take on the administration,” said Jon Soltz, chairman of VoteVets.org. “Generating the kind of money that would be required to challenge the president’s policies just isn’t going to happen.”
…Others, like VoteVets.org, support the American military presence in Afghanistan, calling it crucial to fighting terrorism.
Hide and watch, Mr. Soltz.
(Derrick Crowe is the Afghanistan blog fellow for Brave New Foundation / The Seminal.)
El periodista y anfitrión del programa de Telemundo “El Contexto” Ruben Luengas habló sinceramente con Robert Greenwald, productor de Brave New Foundation, en los asuntos mayores frente a la guerra en Afganistán. Mientras la mayoría de norteamericanos forma sus opiniones en Afganistán leyendo las noticias, nadie sabe la realidad que se encuntra en el país. Sin embargo, cinematográfico documental Robert Greenwald ha estado manteniendo un ojo cercano en Afganistán habiendo visitado recientemente Kabul y trabajando actualmente en su último proyecto Repensar Afganistán.
En su reportaje, “Infierno en Afganistán,” Ruben Luengas afirma que cuando utilizamos el poder militar para resolver lo que es en esencia un problema político y económico, el resultado es la muerte y accidentes civiles en gran parte debido a política exterior de EEUU. Por ejemplo, en el documental se destaca una anciana con cinco nietos que han perdido a sus padres debido a la guerra. Ella, un anciano con una pierna amputada, se confronta con la responsabilidad de cuidar por sus nietos sin poder trabajar. En el documental ella prefiere morirse antes que vivir la manera en que ella y sus nietos viven actualmente. Otro ejemplo destaca a un padre que pone a su joven hija arriba en venta para ganar dinero para alimentar a otros miembros de la familia.
With the Pentagon admitting military error led to civilian casualties in last month’s Farah province airstrikes, and congressional calls for an exit strategy growing louder, there’s never been a more important time for people to Rethink Afghanistan.
Is there a library, school, or member of Congress who needs to see this documentary on DVD? Brave New Foundation just made parts 1-3 available for a suggested donation of $19.95. When you donate, you’ll not only receive Troops, Pakistan, and Cost of War plus special features, but you also have the option to donate your copy to a library, school, or member of Congress of our choosing.
If you decide to keep the DVD for yourself, consider using it to host a screening in your neighborhood through Brave New Theaters.
And now, here’s your chance to get a copy completely free. The first 20 people to gather three friends to see the DVD will get it at no charge. Simply Tweet their names @reply to @afghanistandocu, and be sure to include your friends’ names!
Though the Pentagon finally took responsibility for the Afghan civilian deaths in last month’s Farah province airstrikes, we’re only seeing minor adjustments toward a deeply flawed military strategy in need of a complete overhaul.
Late last week, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said US troops were responsible for civilian casualties in the May 4 airstrike, during which B-1 bombers unleashed three 2000 lb bombs and five 500 lb bombs on a village compound, killing up to 140 Afghan civilians. Following Mullen’s admission, Gen. Stanley McChrystal announced plans to limit the use of these deadly airstrikes in populated areas. Meanwhile, McChrystal will also issue orders in the coming days to disengage from combat whenever possible in order to reduce the number of civilian casualties. According to McChrystal’s spokesman, Rear Admiral Greg Smith, “Even if you are receiving fire from a structure, the first question you have to ask is: ‘Can I de-escalate the situation by removing my force or relocating it’?”
Shouldn’t commanders on the ground have been asking themselves this question all along? And why has it taken military leaders this long to restrict airstrikes to more uninhabited areas? Either limiting airstrikes and calling for disengagement signals a genuine shift in military strategy, or this is just a PR maneuver on McChrystal’s end–an attempt to save face because the soaring civilian death toll could quickly become inversely proportionate to the war’s popularity. I’m betting on the latter, considering McChrystal’s predecessor, Gen. McKiernan, tried a similiar tactical shift last year when US airstrikes resulted in an inordinate number of civilian deaths. As I noted last week, this could easily be part of the Pentagon’s plan to take greater control of the media narrative regarding the war.
Either way, you can take action and ensure the Pentagon takes further steps to disengage from the war in Afghanistan altogether. By becoming a Peacemaker, you’ll be alerted whenever there are civilian casualties to call our government and protest the current US foreign policy. Then, support Rep. Jim McGovern’s calls for an exit strategy.
Three days after his inauguration, on January 23, 2009, President Barack Obama ordered U.S. predator drones to attack sites inside of Pakistan, reportedly killing 15 people. It was the first documented attack ordered by the new U.S. Commander in Chief inside of Pakistan. Since that first Obama-authorized attack, the U.S. has regularly bombed Pakistan, killing scores of civilians. The New York Timesreported that the attacks were clear evidence Obama “is continuing, and in some cases extending, Bush administration policy.” In the first 99 days of 2009, more than 150 people were reportedly killed in these drone attacks. The most recent documented attack was reportedly last Thursday in Waziristan. Since 2006, the U.S. drone strikes have killed 687 people (as of April). That amounts to about 38 deaths a month just from drone attacks.
The use of these attack drones by Obama should not come as a surprise to anyone who followed his presidential campaign closely. As a candidate, Obama made clear that Pakistan’s sovereignty was subservient to U.S. interests, saying he would attack with or without the approval of the Pakistani government. Obama said if the U.S. had “actionable intelligence” that “high value” targets were in Pakistan, the U.S. would attack. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, echoed those sentiments on the campaign trail and “did not rule out U.S. attacks inside Pakistan, citing the missile attacks her husband, then-President Bill Clinton, ordered against Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in 1998. ‘If we had actionable intelligence that Osama bin Laden or other high-value targets were in Pakistan I would ensure that they were targeted and killed or captured,’ she said.”
An interview with a man with his children in an Internally Displaced Person (refugee) camp quickly devolves into a father desperately trying to sell his smallest child to the cameraman. “For God’s sake, I want to sell this child but nobody wants her. What can I do?… For God’s sake, I am poor, otherwise I wouldn’t give her for one million. I know nobody wants to sell their daughter, but I have to. She is innocent, but I am poor. I have nothing.”
An old woman with amputated feet sits in a small mud hut, surrounded by five doe-eyed, dirty grandchildren. She is wailing about how their parents, her children, were killed in the bombings and now she is tasked with feeding, clothing, and providing water and shelter for these orphans in this camp. “They’re hungry, they’re thirsty, and I don’t know what to do with them… I ask my God, kill me and put me under the dirt, or change our lives.”
This is the kind of footage we saw, over and over again, as we cut and shaped the Rethink Afghanistan: Civilian Casualties segment. The first time I saw it, I was shocked. As a taxpayer, I was filled shame that these Afghans have to choose between living in fear of U.S. airstrikes in the rural areas or dying of hunger and cold in urban refugee camps. As a person of faith, my heart broke for the men who constantly fingered their prayer beads as they recalled the loved ones they had lost, and the parents and grandparents who cried out to God on behalf of their children and grandchildren.
Well-reasoned foreign policy results in more housing and jobs, better health care and education. When that policy consists of applying a military solution to a political problem, however, it results in death, destruction, and suffering. I witnessed the latter during my recent trip to Afghanistan–the devastating consequences of U.S. airstrikes on thousands of innocent civilians.
The footage you are about to see is poignant, heart-wrenching, and often a direct result of U.S. foreign policy. It came from a combination of filmmakers: Nazir, a man who tracked me down through Facebook, met me at the Kabul airport, and showed me segments of his exclusive look inside Afghan refugee camps; a stringer we hired who was arrested by the Taliban in filming a bombing victim in Kandahar; and my own interviews while in Kabul. Together, we bring you Rethink Afghanistan: Civilian Casualties.
Clearly we must help the refugees whose lives have been shattered by U.S. foreign policy and military attacks. Here’s how you can take action:
Digg this video: Just one click can help this video land on the Digg homepage, where it can reach tens of thousands of new people!
Provide aid through The Afghan Women’s Mission to the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), which is directly helping the refugees in these camps. We have partnered with these groups, and RAWA will go to the camps in this video to help those most in need. On their website, you can provide emergency relief to refugees, enable Afghans to visit the doctor, and help educate women and children to ensure women’s rights are respected.
Become a Peacemaker: Receive up-to-the-minute information through our new mobile alert system whenever there are Afghan civilian casualties from this war. Then take immediate action by calling our government and posting on social networking sites.
Here’s why it’s even more critical for you to take action now. Earlier this week, the House of Representatives narrowly approved $106 billion in wartime funding, despite an incredible progressive movement that inundated Congress with calls and helped move votes into the “No” column. This bill will escalate military operations in Afghanistan, which is all the more reason why we must help the civilians affected by U.S. airstrikes now, and help our government see the need for a more humanitarian foreign policy.
Director Robert Greenwald appeared on The Ed Show yesterday to discuss the civilian casualties of war, the fourth segment of Rethink Afghanistan. To my knowledge, this was the first time Brave New Foundation’s exclusive footage from an Afghan refugee camp reached mainstream news audiences. And Greenwald was right there to hammer home the message that the war in Afghanistan is militarizing what is actually a regional political problem.
It’s so crucial for more people to see this exclusive footage because it puts a human face on the war, US military airstrikes, and indiscriminate bombing. Gripping images from Afghan refugee camps remind us that Afghanistan is the third poorest country in the world–a country that, as Greenwald said, needs teachers, educators, doctors, and humanitarian aid instead of more soldiers and wartime spending.
It’s not easy for the mainstream media to report the situation on the ground in Afghanistan. The images and subject matter are deeply upsetting, and they fly in the face of policies set by a popular White House administration. What’s more, it’s literally difficult for reporters to access the real story, considering the stringer hired to film this refugee camp was arrested by the Taliban. Now that Brave New Foundation has made this footage available and it has aired on The Ed Show, however, hopefully other networks will follow MSNBC’s example.
The ultimate 60s activist, Tom went on to serve in the California State Legislature for eighteen years. He’ll share the insights gleaned from his forty years of activism and politics as outlined in his newest book, The Long Sixties: From 1960 to Barack Obama.
