A Peace Front Interview with Becky Lourey, Part 2.
This is Paul Ogren, welcoming you to Part 2 of my absorbing interview with Becky Lourey, one of Minnesota’s most outstanding powerhouse legislators, peace activists, and moms. The mother of 12, she lost one son in the Iraq war. She also took part in Cindy Sheehan’s peace vigil outside former President Bush’s ranch in Texas. Welcome to the Peace Front blog, Becky.
Q: If getting along with those we are closest to is often so hard, what are the secrets to getting along on a global basis?
A: The way to get along with family members is not so very different from getting along on a global basis—different in scale, of course. Ultimately we have mutual interests in our relationships, no matter what the scale.
Q: But is it reasonable to expect a higher standard of behavior from our governments and elected officials than we expect of ourselves personally?
A: We should expect a high standard of behavior from ourselves, and from our governments. This will require understanding. It will take examination of what causes negative behavior—and then will require work to correct these causes.
Q: When is armed intervention morally allowable—if ever?
A: Given the military-industrial complex we have created, it is very difficult for the United States to turn away from war.
Q: What kind of strategy or mental reappraisal needs to take place in order for this to happen, Becky?
A: A different method of making such decisions. That’s essential. I referred earlier to an important book: Andrew Bacevich’s Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War. Another book I turn to on this subject is Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen’s book, Urgent Message from Mother. In it, she describes how one nation did it. She talks about the Iroquois Confederacy, and describes them as “the people who are still called the Seneca Nations and who still maintain their sovereignty in the northeast United States. Their elected Council of Clan Mothers were grandmothers, women whose own children were grown and who were beyond their child-bearing years. They determined the priorities for the confederacy, including whether to go to war.”
• In essence, when young men in their eagerness, or old men out of habit wanted to go to war, they needed approval from the grandmothers. It was these women’s responsibility to decide if such action was necessary to protect their people. If the war motive was to grab someone else’s land or property, their answer would be no. If it was to extract revenge, their answer would also be no. I think they would have decided that intervening in World War II had become necessary. Why? Because nations, working together, with well-researched facts, must develop a humanitarian response to genocide. On the other hand, I’m certain the clan grandmothers would have said “NO!” to our unilateral action against Iraq.
Q: Can you elaborate further on this point?
A: After my son’s battlefield death in 2005, I delivered a speech on February 1, 2006, based on my belief that our Commander-in-Chief was neither honest nor responsible when he pushed so hard for us to go to war. Some of the things I said are more relevant than ever. For instance, the shadowy group called The Project for the New American Century, a conservative Washington think-tank set up in 1997.
• This is an excerpt from my speech.
“Vice President Dick Cheney, at the time Chairman of Halliburton, was a founding member, along with now Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Defense Policy Board chairman Richard Perle. Former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, now the president of the World Bank, was the ideological father of the group, which also included T. Lewis Libby, Richard Armitage, William Bennett, and Bruce Jackson, who served as a Pentagon official for Ronald Reagan and is now with the weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin. William Kristol, conservative writer for Ruppert Murdoch’s Weekly Standard is its chairman, and Jeb Bush the President’s brother and current Governor of Florida is also among the founding members. Soon after its founding, (the group) produced a White Paper entitled “Rebuilding America’s Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century.”
Q: Becky, what bombshells did that White Paper reveal?
A: First of all, it was published in September of 2000, three months before George Bush became President! Secondly, the paper outlines what is required of America to create the global empire they envision. According to Project for the New American Century, America must:
• Reposition permanently based forces to Southern Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East;
• Modernize U.S. forces, including enhancing our fighter aircraft, submarine and surface fleet capabilities;
• Develop and deploy a global missile defense system, and develop a strategic dominance of space;
• Control the “International Commons” of cyberspace;
• Increase defense spending to a minimum of 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, up from the 3 percent currently spent (in 2000).
Q: That is quite a laundry list for world domination. But there was more, wasn’t there?
A: Yes. That White Paper expressed the conviction that, and I quote, “while the unresolved conflict in Iraq provides the immediate justification [for US military presence], the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein.” It goes on to say: “Over the long term, Iran may well prove as large a threat to U.S. interests in the Gulf as Iraq has. And even should U.S.-Iranian relations improve, retaining forward-based forces in the region would still be an essential element in U.S. security strategy given the longstanding American interests in the region.”
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Becky, this is a staggering document, full of Dr. Strangelove-style rhetoric. Why did the gameplan of this White Paper not become more widely known? And why has it been so completely forgotten in the intervening years? In Part 3 of my startling interview with former legislator Becky Lourey, we will learn the rest of the story—and its shocking ties to 9/11. Please join us for more revelations. Thank you, Becky.
Paul Ogren
Founder of www.FromWarToPeace.com
info@fromwartopeace.com
To the one who mentioned about opinion vs. fact, as if everybody agreed it was a threat, please consider this viewpoint. And about ten more from different angles.
great post very good informations thank you man