poets against the war sending letters to kissinger

[jimboloco]

Dear Friends:

It is three years since we began Poets Against War. It seems altogether
appropriate to note the occasion with three comments from Walt Whitman.
It
was, after all, Whitman to whom I turned that cold January afternoon
after
reading my invitation to the White House. The real war is not in Iraq
or
Afghanistan, but in the hearts-and-minds of people around the world. I
turned to Whitman. And I knew in that instant my life had been changed
forever. I could go play nice with a murderous establishment or I could
live as I have tried to live all my adult life-by the revolutionary
path I
first glimpsed in Whitman when I was still a boy.
We have walked a long way together. We have a long way to go. While it
remains essential for us to continue to be engaged with fellow groups
and
individuals working for nonviolent solutions, it is also good to
remember
that we sometimes accomplish the most by working alone, daily, with a
few
good words from the heart. In either case, Whitman is good company. Not
only are we not alone, but our company, our majority, grows- one by
one,
day by day. Namaste. We have good work to do. -Sam Hamill

*
Anyone interested in obtaining a DVD copy of Tim Robbins' utterly
brilliant
satire, Embedded Live! or Cinema Libre's Peace! may do so by
contacting:
http://www.docworkers.com

*
Does anyone wish to offer a few polite remarks to Henry Kissinger?
Among
his many accomplishments besides Viet Nam, the Nobel Peace Prize winner
gets credit for overthrowing the duly elected government of Salvador
Allende in Chile on September 11, 1973.

On March 10th and 11th this year the fourteen Presidential Libraries
and
the National Archives will host a conference at the John F. Kennedy
Presidential Library in Boston on "Vietnam and the Presidency." Many
of
the leading U.S. "decision makers" of that war will be present ,
including
former Secretary of State, and National Security Advisor, Henry
Kissinger,
who rarely makes such public appearances. Unfortunately, perspectives
will
be limited, as will access to the conference: currently no seats are
available. In an effort to address these issues, across the road at
the
University of Massachusetts Boston, the William Joiner Center for the
Study
of War and Social Consequences will host a series of events offering
those
who have lived the consequences of these decisions to make their own
testimonies and present their perspectives. In an effort to provide
individulas unable to attend the same opportunity we are offering to
deliver letters and emails directly to the conference, and to Mr.
Kissinger. We ask these letters be addressed to Mr. Kissinger,
personnally,
since he will be the chief architect of the war who will be present. In
a
time when the same issues of Presidential power and the abuse of that
power
we saw in Vietnam are again in the air, we feel this conference offers
a
unique opportunity to deliver a message.

email may be addressed to joinercenter@umb.edu

*
Please keep us advised of poetry-related events as appropriate for our
calendar.

In the coming weeks we hope to find about a dozen volunteers to become
contributing editors to our Poetry Matters section. We want to build a
library of important links and to be notified of important events.

The Winter edition of Poets Against War Newsletter is on line and
features
the first installment of William O'Daly's commentary on poetry and
torture
along with poet-translator-doctor Fady Joudah's memoir of recent work
with
Doctors Without Borders.