All posts by CPNN Coordinator

About CPNN Coordinator

Dr David Adams is the coordinator of the Culture of Peace News Network. He retired in 2001 from UNESCO where he was the Director of the Unit for the International Year for the Culture of Peace, proclaimed for the Year 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly.

India: ’Life: A Mystical Journey’- A Gathering of 500 Women Leaders To Explore Spirituality as Tool For Peace And Empowerment

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from India Education Diary

Over 500 accomplished women achievers, artists, policymakers, sportswomen among others will participate in the 8th International Women’s Conference (IWC). Titled, ‘Life: A Mystical Journey,’ the conference will be held at The Art of Living International Center, Bengaluru between February 23 and 25.


IWC has unique twin goals- individual development and collective action. It facilitates partnership-building and leadership development among women leaders globally.

Some of the speakers for this year’s conference include Arundhati Bhattacharya, former chairman, State Bank of India; Chetna Gala Sinha, Founder-Chairperson Mann Deshi Bank and Mann Deshi Foundation, Rani Mukherji , Indian Actress,  Vandana Shiva, environmentalist, and ecologist; Madhoo Shah, actress, MridulaSinha, Governor, Goa,  Adriana Marais, theoretical physicist, head of innovation at SAP Africa; Professor MaithreeWickramasinghe, founder director of Center for Gender Studies at the University of Kelaniya.

“Women are leading peacemakers. They work together towards creating a stress-free, violence-free society. The conference is a message in peace and unity,” shares BhanumathiNarasimhan, Chairperson, IWC.

(article continued in right column)

Questions for this article

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

(article continued from left column)

Increasing number of women are leading from the front in multiple fields. The IWC builds on this trend. It works with women leaders to enhance their impact and gives an impetus to the global advancement of women from all backgrounds.

The 2018 conference will explore ways to amplify the message of peace and empowerment, including spiritual tools.

“The role of women in the development of a society is of utmost importance. It is the only criterion that determines whether a society is strong and harmonious,” says Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder, The Art of Living, which is one of the conference partners.

Since its inception in 2005, the conference has focused on diversity and inclusiveness. Over 375 eminent speakers and 5500 delegates from over 100 countries have participated in the conference. The IWC focuses on advancing the status of women in fragile and post-conflict states. It also worked with the World Bank Institute to develop empowerment schemes for women in vulnerable nations and expanded vocational training for widows in Iraq.

The IWC also supports The Art of Living’s Gift A Smile project. Over 58,000 students study in 435 free schools across 20 Indian states. Encouragingly, girl children comprise 48% while 90% are first-generation learners. Promoting girl child education is the underlined focus area for IWC.

This year the focus will also be to create open defecation free districts in India. In phase 1, the organization will work towards sensitization and awareness about use of toilets and increasing health and hygiene in these areas. In Phase II, 4000 toilets will be built.

IWC in the past has been associated with pivotal social initiatives like constructing homes for the under privileged, creating awareness about environment and environmental care, movement to stop violence against women, and child and women empowerment through skills training.

South Asia, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Adyan Foundation in Lebanon to Get 35th Niwano Peace Prize

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

A press release from the PR News Wire

The Niwano Peace Foundation will award the 35th Niwano Peace Prize to the Adyan Foundation in Lebanon in recognition of its continued service to global peace-building, notably its development of a program for children and educators offering guidance to peace and reconciliation for those affected by the Syrian war.


caption:Photo from Asia News

An award presentation ceremony will take place in Tokyo on May 9 at 10:30 a.m. In addition to an award certificate, the foundation will receive a medal and a cash prize of 20 million yen.

In 2013, Adyan responded to the Syrian crisis by offering interfaith mediation dialogue and peace education to vulnerable Syrian citizens both in Lebanon and Syria. In 2016, Adyan started intensive work in Iraq to build the capacities of journalists and civil society activists in spreading the values of inclusive citizenship and inter-religious solidarity, and healing the society from its ISIS traumatism. 

In selecting Adyan as a recipient for 2018, the Niwano Peace Prize Committee said the foundation has been “a visible and committed actor for peace” in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East region, focusing on both high-level and grassroots engagement, “demonstrating the inclusive and interfaith values/principles the Niwano Award seeks to recognize.”

Niwano Peace Prize: 


The Niwano Peace Foundation established the Niwano Peace Prize to honor and encourage individuals and organizations that have contributed significantly to inter-religious cooperation, thereby furthering the cause of world peace, and to make their achievements known as widely as possible. The foundation hopes in this way both to enhance inter-religious understanding and cooperation and to encourage the emergence of still more persons devoted to working for world peace. The prize is named in honor of the founder and first president of the lay Buddhist organization Rissho Kosei-kai, Nikkyo Niwano.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Mideast

First National Bank dumps NRA, will no longer issue NRA Visa card

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from Think Progress

For more than a decade, the First National Bank of Omaha has offered special branded Visa cards to National Rifle Association members to support the group. On Thursday, following two days of public pressure, the bank announced it “will not renew its contract” with the NRA.


Click on image to enlarge
(Note: Since this image was first published by Think Progress, most of the corporations have ended their relationship.)

The bank confirmed, in a tweet, that “customer feedback caused” the decision:

On Tuesday, ThinkProgress reported  that First National Bank was one of at least 22 corporations that the NRA says offer incentives to NRA members. The bank and its parent company did not respond to repeated inquires about whether last week’s horrific mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, would cause it to reconsider its relationship with the group leading the charge to oppose gun violence prevention efforts.

(Article continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

Do you think handguns should be banned?, Why or why not?

(continued from left column)

But less than 24 hours later, ThinkProgress spotted that the website advertising the “official credit card of the NRA” had mysteriously vanished, with an error message appearing in its place.

Neither the bank nor Visa responded to repeated ThinkProgress inquiries about the disappearance, but the bank did respond on Twitter, to many outraged customers, many of whom threatened to cancel their accounts  because of the relationship.

First National Bank is the first of the corporations to officially end its relationship with the NRA in the aftermath of Parkland.

There are still at least 21 corporations  with ongoing relationships with the NRA.

Editor’s note: Since this article was published, a number of these other corporations have stopped their relationship with the NRA, including Enterprise, Alamo and National, as well as Hertz and Avis car rentals. However, the NRA continues its own publicity, assailing the media and calling for the arming of teachers, a position supported by President Trump.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America

Do you think handguns should be banned?, Why or why not?

Here are the comments of Henry A. Giroux, writing in Tikkun magazine. Giroux currently holds the McMaster University Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest in the English and Cultural Studies Department and the Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy:

“Passing thoughts on the willingness of the politicians and merchants of death who allow the unimaginable to become imaginable, allow financial gain to prevail over the lives of innocent children, and are more willing to protect guns at the expense of the lives of children.

President Trump listened recently to the impassioned testimony of parents and children who have seen their children and friends killed in gun shootings. He responded by advocating that teachers be armed and trained to have concealed weapons.

Instead of confronting the roots of violence in America, he followed the NRA line of addressing the issue of mass violence, shootings, and the ongoing carnage with a call to arm more people, putting more guns into play, and stating that violence can be met with more violence. This logic is breathtaking in its insanity, moral depravity, refusal to get to the root of the problem, and even advocate minor reforms such as banning assault rifles and high-capacity ammunition magazines, and expanding background checks.

There are 300 million guns in the United States and since the mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School of 20 young children and 6 teachers a decade ago, 11,000 more children have died of gun violence.

There is no defense for putting the policies of the NRA ahead of the lives of children. Criminal acts often pass for legislative policies. How else to explain the Florida legislature refusing to even debate outlawing assault weapons while students from Majory Stoneman Douglas High School sat in the galleys and watched this wretched and irresponsible act take place. How else to explain that the House of Representatives – reduced to an adjunct of the NRA – voted to pass the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act (H.R.38) which would allow individuals to carry concealed weapons across state lines. These are the people who have the blood of thousands on their hands.

The power of money in politics has morphed into a form of barbarism in which financial gain and power have become more important than protecting the lives of America’s children.

I find it extremely difficult to watch the debates about gun violence on the mainstream media. The call for reform is so limited as to be useless. Instead of banning assault rifles, they celebrate Trump for suggesting that he raise the age to 21 in order for people to buy a weapon of war. Instead of preventing violence from engulfing the country and schools, he calls for arming teachers and the press celebrates his willingness to entertain this issue. Instead of speaking about justice and allowing people to speak who are against deregulating laws restricting or abolishing the merchants of death, the media allows an NRA hawk to speak at the town meeting and rather than calling her out for being a spokesperson for violence rather than justice, they congratulate themselves on promoting balance.

The corporate media has become a normalizing force for violence because they lack the courage to challenge the corporations that control them. They also benefit by peddling extreme violence as a spectacle. They refuse to begin with the issue of money in politics and start instead with what one parent called non-starters. Guns disappear from the conversation and appeals to fear and security take over. Young people have to lead this conversation and move beyond the mainstream media. And when they do appear they have to flip the script and ask the questions they think are important.

Children no longer have a safe space in America, a country saturated in violence as a spectacle, sport, and deadly acts of domestic terrorism. Any defense for the proliferation of guns, especially those designed for war, is criminal. This is the discourse of political corruption, a government in the hands of the gun lobbies, and a country that trades in violence at every turn in order to accrue profits at the expense of the lives of innocent children.

This debate is not simply about gun violence, it is about the rule of capital and how the architects of violence accrue enough power to turn machineries of death and destruction into profits while selling violence as a commodity. Violence is both a source of profits and a cherished national ideal. It is also the defining feature of a toxic masculinity. Gun reform is no substitute for real justice and the necessary abolition of a death-dealing and cruel economic and political system that is the antithesis of democracy.

What are we to make of a society in which young children have a greater sense of moral courage and social responsibility than the zombie adults who make the laws that fail to invest in and protect the lives of present and future generations. First step, expose their lies, make their faces public, use the new media to organize across state lines, and work like hell to vote them out of office in 2018. Hold these ruthless walking dead responsible and then banish them to the gutter where they belong. At the same time, imagine and fight for not a reform of American society but a restructuring along the lines of a democratic socialist order.”

Here are the CPNN articles on this subject:

ABC News Report Claims No Past Mass Shooters Have Been Veterans; At Least 31% Have Been

‘We Refuse to Go On Like This’: US Students Walk Out to Demand Gun Control

Biden asks Congress to ban ‘weapons of war on our streets’ as he uses 3rd anniversary of Parkland shooting to demand gun control

Global Human Rights Movement Issues Travel Warning for the U.S. due to Rampant Gun Violence

U.S. students walk out again to protest gun violence

March For Our Lives wins International Children’s Peace Prize 2018

USA: Update on March For Our Lives

USA: March For Our Lives: Road to Change

USA: Meet The Students Who Dreamed Up Friday’s National School Walkout

U.S. student anti-gun activists to keep momentum alive over summer

USA: The Missing Link in the Gun Debate

In pictures: ‘March for Our Lives’ Rallies Demand Stricter US Gun Controls

‘No more’ or we vote you out: students lead huge U.S. anti-gun rallies

USA: Branford High Students Find Their Voice

2018 Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence

‘It’s Time To Take Action’: Students Lead Protest to Change Gun Laws

First National Bank dumps NRA, will no longer issue NRA Visa card

Women-led initiatives promote nonviolence in the US

USA: Educator unions reject guns in schools

Please Watch ‘Bowling for Columbine’ With Me This Saturday Night

Rays of hope in Newtown (United States)

US Senator to Introduce Gun Control Bill

Culture of peace, present in “Goodbye to guns. Contraband at the borders”

Cultura de paz, presente en “Adiós a las armas. Contrabando en las fronteras”

Bowling for Columbine: A great bang for your movie buck

d-disarmament

Challenge of Tackling Terrorism Threat Can Be Achieved through Solidarity, Secretary-General Tells African Union Peace and Security Council

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

A press release from the United Nations

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the African Union Peace and Security Council’s meeting on combating the transnational threat of terrorism in Africa, in Addis Ababa today:

It is an honour to take part in this meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council.  I welcome your focus on a comprehensive approach to combating the transnational threat of terrorism in Africa.  Let me begin with three overarching points.

First, we know nothing justifies terrorism.  No cause or grievance can ever excuse the indiscriminate targeting of civilians, the destruction of lives and livelihoods, and the creation of panic for its own sake.

Second, we know that terrorism has unfortunately been with us in different forms across ages and continents.  But modern terrorism is being waged on an entirely different scale.  It has become an unprecedented threat to international peace, security and development.

Third, we know modern terrorism is not only different in degree, but also different in nature — having grown more complex, and with new modus operandi.  And the linkages between terrorism and transnational organized crime are growing every day.

The world should never forget that the vast majority of terrorist attacks take place in developing countries.  The communities, victims and survivors of terrorism are very much in our hearts.

The devastating consequences of the threat posed by terrorism in Africa demand collective and comprehensive action.  No single nation, institution, or organization can defeat terrorism in Africa or anywhere else.  We need a sustained, cooperative and coordinated approach in tackling this menace.

The African Union is a vital partner in confronting the global challenge posed by terrorist groups.  As I have said from day one as Secretary-General, we needed a higher platform of cooperation with the African Union.  And I am proud that we are indeed building that platform across the range of challenges and opportunities confronting this great continent.

Last year, we signed the Joint United Nations-African Union Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security.  The Framework includes cooperation in the field of countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism.  I believe this work can be strengthened even further with a memorandum of understanding setting out a road map for future collaboration and capacity-building support on countering terrorism within the context of that Framework.

(Article continued in the right column)

Question for this article

Islamic extremism, how should it be opposed?

Can the African Union help bring a culture of peace to Africa?

(Article continued from the left column)

L’une des premières réformes que j’ai entreprises a été de créer un Bureau de lutte contre le terrorisme.

En collaboration étroite avec l’Union africaine et d’autres partenaires, ce bureau a mis au point des stratégies régionales et des plans d’action nationaux de prévention du terrorisme et de l’extrémisme violent dans la Corne de l’Afrique et en Afrique centrale et australe.

Le Bureau a intensifié l’aide apportée à plusieurs pays d’Afrique, notamment le Mali et le Nigéria, pour qu’ils renforcent leurs capacités aux niveaux national et régional.

Pour ce faire, le Bureau s’est appuyé sur des instances telles que l’Initiative d’assistance intégrée pour la lutte antiterroriste, qui permet de mobiliser l’ensemble des organismes des Nations Unies à l’appui des États Membres qui en font la demande.  Une stratégie d’assistance intégrée est en cours d’établissement pour aider le G5 Sahel à lutter contre le terrorisme dans la sous-région, dont la vulnérabilité est notamment due au retour des combattants terroristes étrangers.

Looking ahead, I believe a comprehensive approach to combating the transnational threat of terrorism in Africa can be developed around four key priorities.

First, by addressing the deficit in international counter-terrorism cooperation at the global, regional and national levels.  In June, I will convene the first-ever United Nations summit of heads of counter-terrorism agencies to build on Member States’ priorities and our discussion today.  Our goal is to enhance cooperation and the exchange of information, and develop new and innovative ways to tackle terrorism.

Second, success in countering terrorism will be greatly advanced through ratification of existing legal counter-terrorism instruments, conventions and protocols.  The United Nations is ready to provide the support needed to the African Union and Member States to implement these instruments.

Third, the threat posed by terrorism requires addressing the root causes and underlying conditions.  I welcome the growing emphasis by the African Union and African Member States to address the drivers of violent extremism.  It is crucial that our efforts include tackling the lack of economic opportunities, including extreme poverty, marginalization, exclusion and discrimination, while ensuring respect for international humanitarian law and human rights.

Fourth and finally, we must place a special focus on expanding opportunities for young people — especially since youth under the age of 25 form the largest demographic group in most developing countries and they are often the ones most at risk of being recruited and radicalized by terrorists.  Strategic investments in education and employment for young men and women are essential.

Resource mobilization for counter-terrorism efforts is also critical.  After all, terrorism is not only a threat to peace and security but also to sustainable development.  I call on the international community to mobilize resources in support of African countries as they strive to balance security and development.

Let me conclude by once again expressing my profound gratitude to the African Union for its cooperation and to African Member States for your commitment and contributions in tackling terrorism and violent extremism.

We face a serious challenge — but I believe it is one that we can meet with solidarity, common action and a shared resolve.

Africa, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY, United Nations,

UNESCO brochure: Africa, Culture of Peace, 2017

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

A brochure of UNESCO (translation by CPNN)

UNESCO has just published a new brochure on its activities for a culture of peace in Africa, with an impressive list of activities. Here is the table of contents of the brochure with links, where available, to the CPNN or UNESCO article.

4-5 June, 2012 – Abidjan – Forum of Reflection “Culture of Peace in West Africa: an imperative for economic development and a requirement for social cohesion”

26-28 March 2013 – Luanda – Pan-African Forum: “Sources and resources for a culture of peace

20-21 September 2013 – Addis Abeba – Network of foundations and research institutions to promote the culture of peace in Africa

19-22 March 2014 – Brussels – Women’s Network for a Culture of Peace in Africa

December 11-13, 2014 – Libreville – Youth Network for a Culture of Peace in Africa

16-28 March 2013 – Luanda – Launch of the campaign “Make Peace” Luanda , Angola

July 9, 2016 – Libreville – Launch of the Youth Campaign for a Culture of Peace in Central Africa” ​​Different Words, Same Language: Peace, Libreville, Gabon

(Contents continued in right column)

(Click here for the original in French)

 

Question related to this article.

Will UNESCO once again play a role in the culture of peace?

(Contents continued from left column)

March 31, 2017 – Launch of the Youth Mobilization Campaign for Culture of peace, Burundi

September 21-23, 2014 – Celebrating 25 years of the birth of the concept of a culture of peace : “Peace in the minds of men and women”, Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire

20 Sept 2017 – Celebrating the International Day of Peace, Cameroon

Sept 2017 Celebrating the International Day of Peace, Burundi

January 2015 – Decisions of the African Union

2015 – Biennial of Luanda

2017 – Yamoussoukro Project to create a “School of Peace”

2012-2017 – Culture of Peace and Reconciliation: A Case Study of Mali

May 26, 2015 – Benin – International Symposium for the Launch of the African Initiative for Education for Peace and Development through Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue

14 March 2017 – Dakar –
2017 Triennial of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA)

6 April 2017 – Regional Global Education Network Meeting in Sub-Saharan Africa, Johannesburg

9-11 Sep 2017 Benin Regional Consultations in West and Central Africa on youth, peace and security

Editor’s Note: It is very commendable that UNESCO’s Africa Department continues to support the culture of peace. The purpose of the brochure, according to Firmin Edouard Matoko, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Africa, “is to draw on the sources of inspiration and the potential of the cultural, natural and human resources of the continent in order to identify concrete lines of action to build a lasting peace, the cornerstone of endogenous development and Pan-Africanism.” On the other hand, one hopes it is not a bad sign for the future that the foreward to the brochure by the new Directrice-Generale of UNESCO fails to mention culture of peace.

Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, United Nations,

Is peace possible in Afghanistan?


Only one soldier survived the British retreat

The history of invasions of Afghanistan is not a happy one. We know what happened to the Russians a few decades ago, and what is happening to the Americans now. But the pattern was already set by the British invasions in the 19th Century as told in the introduction to a New York Times book review of William Dalrymple,“Return of a King.”

“The story of the British invasion of Afghanistan in 1839-42 (what was later called the First Afghan War) can be briefly told. A British Army entered the country in April 1839, captured Kabul and ejected the ruler Dost Mohammad Khan. He was replaced by Shah Shuja, who had been living in exile since his overthrow by Dost Mohammad and his brother some 30 years earlier. The British expected Shah Shuja to be a more pliable king, a client of their Indian Raj, and a more reliable ally against the intrigues of the Russians. But they underestimated the resentment that their presence would arouse, and inflamed Afghan hostility by their overbearing behavior. After they failed to quell an uprising in Kabul and their envoy was murdered, they agreed to withdraw. But the retreating army of British officers, Indian soldiers and a multitude of camp followers was slaughtered almost to a man as it struggled back through the Khyber Pass in January 1842. Some months later, the British returned with an “army of retribution.” After a short stay in Kabul, and some indiscriminate killing, they withdrew once more. Dost Mohammad returned (with their blessing) to resume his place on the throne. Ever since this fiasco, an entire phalanx of writers has denounced the arrogance, folly and incompetence of the British aggressors (of which there was plenty) and has drawn a predictable lesson: those who invade Afghanistan pay a high price in treasure and blood — and also inflict one on its unlucky peoples.”

Here are the CPNN articles on this subject:
d-disarmament, South Asia

DRC: Meeting on the School Day of Non Violence and Peace

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by John Mukhuta Muhiana, for the World Peace Foundation / DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

The World Peace Foundation, DRC, has organized an event for the school day of non-violence and peace, commemorating the death of his excellence Mahatma Gandhi. The event took place on January 30, 2018 in the Provincial Assembly of Lualaba, with the participation of the political authorities, representatiives from the mining companies, the school project Living Peace, people from India and the Representative of the Indian Ambassador.

The event began at 14:00 in the plenary room mentioned above with the slogan “peace, love and unity “. This day was initially celebrated since 1964 by the Spanish poet, educator and pacifist, Llorenc Vidal, and the day was recognized by UNESCO in 1993.

(Continued in the right column)

Question related to this article:

Can you add to this analysis of the Democratic Republic of the Congo?

(Continued from the left column)

The event was dedicated to politicians, public officials, parents, educators and teachers, to promote lifelong education for non-violence and peace. It is essential to educate for solidarity and respect for others, because wars start in the minds of men and it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be raised. In this event, the World Peace Foundation has celebrated its 15th anniversary, the commemoration of the death of His Excellency Mahatma Gandhi and the world day of non-violence and peace.
 
At 19:00, the guests were accompanied to the Moon Palas Hotel for a cocktail and meal until 1 am. The holiday gave joy to peace supporters and participants. This event was sponsored by the Governor of the Province His Excellency Mr. Muyej Mangeze Mans who is our Universal Circle of Peace Ambassador. He contributed $ 3000 for the organization of this event. We thank also the President of the Provincial Assembly the Honorable Kamwenyi Thumbo Louis who allowed us to hold the event in the plenary hall of the Assembly.

(Click here for the French version of this article.)

Africa, DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Urging Peace Talks, Open Letter From Taliban Asks American People to Recognize Total Failure of 16-Year War

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by Andrea Germanos, staff writer, in Common Dreams (reprinted under terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License)

Two and half weeks after President Donald Trump rejected  the idea of peace talks with Taliban, the militant group published an open letter to the American people urging them to pressure their government to end the occupation of Afghanistan, now in its 17th year, and engage in peace talks.


Children play inside the remains of an old Soviet hotel where they have been living for the past two years, on July 15, 2017 in Rodat District, Afghanistan. (Photo: Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images)

The letter, published on the group’s website, denounces the Bush administration’s justification for launching the invasion, as well as the Trump administration, which “again ordered the perpetuation of the same illegitimate occupation and war against the Afghan people.”

“No matter what title or justification is presented by your undiscerning authorities for the war in Afghanistan, the reality is that tens of thousands of helpless Afghans including women and children were martyred by your forces, hundreds of thousands were injured and thousands more were incarcerated in Guantanamo, Bagram, and various other secret jails and treated in such a humiliating way that has not only brought shame upon humanity but is also a violation of all claims of American culture and civilization,” the letter states.

(article continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

Is peace possible in Afghanistan?

(article continued from left column)

It goes on to illustrate in numerous ways how the occupation has failed. For example, “3546 American and foreign soldiers have been killed,” it states, and “this war has cost you trillions of dollars thus making it one of the bloodiest, longest and costliest war in the contemporary history of your country.”

It also references United Nations statistics finding that there was an 87 percent increase in drug production in Afghanistan in 2017 and, despite the uptick in airstrikes, the U.S. watchdog the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) acknowledged that the Taliban is gaining, not losing territory.

Further, “tens of billions of dollars” in taxpayer money have been spent on various reconstruction projects, but the money “has been distributed among thieves and murderers,” the letter states. Through the occupation, “the Americans have merely paved the way for anarchy in the country,” referring to the rise in other militant groups.

“If you want peaceful dialogue with the Afghans specifically, and with the world generally, then make your president and the war-mongering congressmen and Pentagon officials understand this reality and compel them to adopt a rational policy towards Afghanistan,” the letter states.

Ongoing failure for U.S. troops is ensured, the group argues. “If the policy of using force is exercised for a hundred more years and a hundred new strategies are adopted, the outcome of all of these will be the same as you have observed over the last six months following the initiation of Trump’s new strategy.”

“Our preference is to solve the Afghan issue through peaceful dialogues. America must end her occupation and must accept all our legitimate rights including the right to form a government consistent with the beliefs of our people,” the group says.

The thrust of the message echoes what many peace groups have said—Trump is continuing  the failed strategies of his predecessors, and there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. 

The letter comes a day after U.S. intelligence agencies predicted  (pdf) that the “overall situation in Afghanistan probably will deteriorate modestly this year in the face of persistent political instability, sustained attacks by the Taliban-led insurgency, unsteady Afghan Nationa l Security Forces (ANSF) performance, and chronic financial shortfalls.”

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Mideast

China Reassigns 60,000 Soldiers to Plant Trees

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Lorraine Chow for Ecowatch

Earlier this year, the Chinese government announced plans for a major reforestation project—growing 6.66 million hectares of new forests this year, an area roughly the size of Ireland.


The Great Wall of China, Badaling. Hrvoje Sasek / Flickr

(continued in right column)

Question for this article:

When you cultivate plants, do you cultivate peace?

(continued from left column)

To achieve this goal, China has reassigned more than 60,000 soldiers to plant the trees. According to the Asia Times, a large regiment from the People’s Liberation Army, along with some of the nation’s armed police force, have been withdrawn from their posts near the northern border to work on the task.

The majority of the troops will be dispatched in the heavily polluted industrial province of Hebei, which has pledged to raise total forest coverage to 35 percent by the end of 2020.

China’s State Forestry Administration aims to increase the whole country’s forest coverage rate to 23 percent from 21.7 percent by the end of the decade. Then from 2020 to 2035, China plans to further boost the percentage of forest coverage to 26 percent.

China is the world’s largest emitter and remains heavily dependent on coal, but has been cleaning up its act in recent years due to concerns over the impacts of air pollution and climate change. The country is investing heavily in renewable energy, energy efficiency and electric cars.

East Asia, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT