I wrote this book not to disuade us from war but to understand it. It is specially important that we, who wield such massive force across the globe, see within ourselves the seeds of our own obliteration. We must guard against the myth of war and the drug of war that can. together, render us as blind and callous as some of those we battle. (Hedges, p.17) |
Resources for Students
The following information may be helpful to students prior to reading the first year book.
FYB Blog
News
Md. Police Put Activists' Names On Terror Lists (Washington Post) October 8, 2008.
The Maryland State Police classified 53 nonviolent activists as terrorists and entered their names and personal information into state and federal databases that track terrorism suspects, the state police chief acknowledged yesterday.
U.S. judge orders release of 17 Guantánamo detainees (International Herald Tribune) October 8, 2008.
WASHINGTON: A federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to release 17 detainees at Guantánamo by the end of the week, the first such ruling in nearly seven years of legal disputes over the administration's detention policies.
Diamondback Dialogue
- Not so radical after all by Kyle Garton (September 24, 2008).
"... does Hedges really claim that war is always wrong? In his introduction, Hedges writes, "despite all this, I am not a pacifist. I respect and admire the qualities of professional soldiers. ... There are times when we must take this poison [of war]." Certainly Hedges spends the bulk of his book explicating war's insidious cultural effects, but Harris misses Hedges' crucial introductory qualification."
- Defending free speech by Matthew Parrilla (September 17, 2008).
- In defense of ROTC by Richard Garcia (September 16, 2008).
- Book: A force that gives the campus meaning by Malcolm Harris (September 11, 2008.)
First Year Trip to Capitol Hill
The Office of Undergraduate Studies and the First Year Book program are
pleased to announce a First Year Trip to Capitol Hill on Thursday,
October 2, 2008, from 9:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. including a tour of the Capitol
and meetings with congressional staff and federal officials. A lunch
roundtable discussion will have topics from this year's First-Year Book, War
is a Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges.
Fifty first-year students can participate, on a first-come basis. Dr.
Rae Grad, Director of Federal Relations, UM, will lead the trip; Dr. Lisa
Kiely, Assistant Dean, and Dr. Joan Burton, Assistant to the Dean, will
both accompany the trip. Mandatory orientation meeting for students
will be on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 5:00 p.m., in the conference room of 0110
Hornbake.
Interested in joining us? Email Dr. Lisa Kiely at Lkiely@umd.edu. Include
your name, UID number, phone number, year at UM, why you want to go, and
your promise that you will read War is a Force by the trip. If
you are unable to be excused from your course, please let us know as soon
as possible.
Multimedia
Budget Hero
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/projects/2008/05/budget_hero/
Budget Hero is an engaging and journalistically sound game that encourages players to think through the complexities and challenges of the federal budget and the major policy issues of the 2008 election. It frames the policy debate as a set of federal budget choices determining how money will be raised and spent. Budget Hero forces players make tradeoffs and confront compromises inherent in balancing a budget. Can they be Budget Heroes by staying true to their values while creating a sustainable government?
Budget Hero is built and maintained by American Public Media, the producer and distributor of national public radio programming, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and is supported in part by funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
UM Student Groups
Peace Forum
http://umcp.org/index.php/PeaceForum
Peace Forum is a student-run organization that is open to all members of the UMCP community. It was founded after 9/11/01 to widen the debate about peace and war issues by creating a forum within which all points of view are welcome. We have sponsored many successful speaker events, forum discussions, and protests in which students and others from many backgrounds and perspectives have been able to exchange views on various aspects of US policy and militarism. We are currently organizing for an end to the foreign occupation of Iraq and for bringing the troops home now. Peace Forum is an affiliate of the Campus Anti-war Network.
World Peace Budhist Group
http://www.careercenter.umd.edu/wpbc
Group of students at the University of Maryland at College Park who are practicing Buddhists, or Buddhist-aspirant, or anyone who is interested to join us to promote world peace, cultural exchange and education through the principles of Buddhism.
Terps for Global Solutions
http://www.studentorg.umd.edu/tgs/
TGS envisions a future in which nations work together to abolish war, protect our rights and freedoms, and solve the problems facing humanity that no nation can solve alone. This vision requires effective democratic global institutions that will apply the rule of law while respecting the diversity and autonomy of national and local communities. We invite you to join our campaigns to promote the International Criminal Court, reform United Nations peace operations, encourage our government to adopt a multilateral foreign policy, and develop proposals to create, reform, and strengthen international institutions.
College Park Students for a Democratic Society
SDS is an education and social action organization dedicated to increasing democracy in all phases of our life. It seeks to promote the active participation of young people in the formation of a movement to build a society free from poverty, ignorance, war, exploitation, racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, and environmental destruction.
International Socialist Organization
http://www.internationalsocialist.org/
A socialist organization that organizes for socialism from below and workers' power. We aim to involve ourselves in the struggles against war, racism, and for workers' rights.
Meetings are on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at the University of Maryland, Jimenez Hall, Room 1124. For information: Call 202-903-6906 / E-mail iso_district@yahoo.com
Feminism Without Borders
http://feminismwithoutborders.freeservers.com
FWB is an anti-racist anti-capitalist feminist organization, whose goal is to educate students and community members about the brutal realities of poor women's position, particularly poor women of color's position, transnationally, under global capitalism. FWB engages in critical dialogues, grassroots organizing, and direct action against corporate globalization, colonization, hunger and homelessness, welfare and environmental racism, the prison industrial complex, heterosexism, and sexual diseases and abuse, among other issues. FWB encourages all people from all backgrounds (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, class, nationality, sexuality, etc.) who care about social justice issues and actions to get involved. FWB meets every Wednesday at 7pm in Woods Hall 0104. E-mail: fwbumd@gmail.com
Progressive Activist Community
umcp.org
On-line home to the progressive activist community at the University of Maryland. This website hosts:
* Maryland Action Collective
* Maryland Media Collective
* Peace Forum
* That Fresh Radio Piece
* Sustainable Agriculture Club/Garden Club
* Earthworks Adventure Challenge
* Students And Workers Unite!
* Entropy
* Choice Tutors
* Fair Trade Advocacy Club
* Feminist Activists Of Maryland
* Critical Mass
* International Socialists
* College Park Environmental Group
University of Maryland
College Democrats
Mission: To promote Democratic activism on campus through community service,
special events, and grassroots mobilization efforts.
University of Maryland
College Republicans
Air Force ROTC
- University of Maryland
Army ROTC
- University of Maryland
Semper Fidelis Society
The mission of the UMCP Chapter of the SEMPER FIDELIS SOCIETY shall be
to shar camaraderie and Esprit de Corps among the Marines, sister services,
and civilians on campus, to be involved in philanthropic acts that benefit
society, and shall be in keeping with the objectives of the Parent Chapter.
War on Terror Timeline
1960-2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006-2008 |
1960-2000
January 8, 1964 - President Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in his State of the Union address beginning the onset of war-on-concepts from the American presidents in times to come.
August 27, 1986 - President Reagan signs an anti-terrorism law that bans arms sales to nations that support terrorism, and strengthens U.S. anti-terrorist measures. Reagan Timeline
2001
September 11 - Attacks are made on the World Trade Center and Pentagon by terrorists.September 12 - Bush Declares War
President Bush announces, "The deliberate and deadly attacks which were carried out yesterday against our country were more than acts of terror. They were acts of war."War Timeline
September 14 - Congress Authorizes Military Response
Congress passes resolution authorizing President Bush "to use all
necessary and appropriate force" against the perpetrators of the
September 11 attacks, their sponsors, and those who protected them. The
bill passes the Senate by a vote of 98-0 and the House by a vote of 420-1.
September 18 - The Justice Department publishes an interim
regulation allowing non-citizens suspected of terrorism to be detained
without charge for 48 hours or "an additional reasonable period
of time" in the event of an "emergency or other extraordinary
circumstance." The new rule is used to hold hundreds indefinitely
until the USA Patriot Act passes in October.
September 20 - "Freedom and fear are at war." Bush
Addresses joint session of Congress Bush
outlines his war plan to a joint session of Congress. Just before
he delivers his
speech, he instructs the military to begin planning for war. The
president proposes a new Office of Homeland Security.
September 21 - Chief United States Immigration Judge Michael Creppy issues a directive instructing immigration judges to close cases that might be of "special interest" to the September 11 investigation to all members of the press and public.
October 7 - The military phase of the War Against Terrorism begins under the name "Operation Enduring Freedom" setup to dismantle the Taliban regime, harboring al Qaeda.
October 8 - Bush establishes the Office of Homeland Security in the Executive Office.
October 20 - The New York Times reports that, although 830 people have been arrested in the 9/11 investigation, there is no evidence that anyone in custody was a conspirator in the 9/11 attacks.
October 26 - Patriot Act signed "to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world," known by its other title of "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism."
October 31 - Ashcroft announces the creation of a Foreign Terrorist Tracking Force, which effectively institutionalizes his strategy of mass preventive detention of noncitizens in order to "enhance our ability to protect the United States from the threat of terrorist aliens."
November 13 - President Bush authorizes a Military Order establishing military tribunals to try suspected terrorists. Anyone held under the Military Order can be detained indefinitely without charge or trial.
December 4 - Senate holds hearings on 9/11 detainees. Ashcroft testifies that those who question his policies are "aiding and abetting terrorism," and goes largely unchallenged.
2002
January 9 - The White House declares that the Guantanamo detainees are, as "enemy combatants," not entitled to the protections accorded prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions.January 16 - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says of the (by now 80 or so) detainees at Guantanamo Bay, "I do not feel the slightest concern at their treatment. They are being treated vastly better than they treated anybody else."
January 22 - A memo from Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee argues that the War Crimes Act and the Geneva Convention did not apply to al Qaeda prisoners and that President Bush had constitutional authority to "suspend our treaty obligations toward Afghanistan" because it was a "failed state."
May 3 - A University of Michigan poll finds that a majority of Americans, post-9/11, would give up some civil liberties in the name of greater security.
July 16 - Terrorism Information and Prevention System (TIPS) announced. The program is to allow volunteers, whose routines make them well-positioned to recognize suspect activities, to report what they see to the Justice Department.
August 26 - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit rules that the press and public must be allowed to witness immigration hearings for suspects detained in the Sept. 11 investigation, strongly rebuking the Bush administration for its policy of maximum secrecy in the war on terrorism. "Democracies die behind closed doors," wrote the senior judge in the court's opinion.
November 25 - President Bush signs the Homeland Security Act of 2002, establishing the Department of Homeland Security.
2003
March 11 - A federal appeals court rules that the 650 Guantanamo detainees have no legal rights in the United States and may not ask courts to review their detentions.March 17 - Homeland Security Department commences Operation Liberty Shield, an increase in protective measures to defend the homeland coinciding with the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
March 19 - President Bush launches Operation Iraqi Freedom to end the regime of Saddam Hussein and its support of terrorism.
April 2 - House passage of the $79 billion Wartime Supplemental Appropriations bill to provide crucial funding for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
May 1 - The Terrorist Threat Integration Center begins operations.
May 28 - Amnesty International Press Release: "The 'war on terror', far from making the world a safer place, has made it more dangerous by curtailing human rights, undermining the rule of international law and shielding governments from scrutiny. It has deepened divisions among people of different faiths and origins, sowing the seeds for more conflict. The overwhelming impact of all this is genuine fear -- among the affluent as well as the poor."
December 13 - Saddam Hussein is captured.
2004
January 5 - The ACLU warns that a new immigrant tracking program, known as US VISIT, would increase confusion among immigrants coming to America, and would primarily target Arabs and Muslims.January 26 - A federal judge declares a portion of the USA Patriot Act unconstitutional. The section in question bars anyone from giving advice or assistance to groups designated as terrorist organizations. It is the first time a court has declared part of the Act unconstitutional.
April 20 - The Supreme Court begins hearing oral arguments on the status of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The court gets ready to consider whether the United States government can hold foreign nationals as "enemy combatants" without hearings and without charges.
May 6 - Brandon Mayfield, a lawyer living in Oregon, is arrested after the FBI reportedly finds his fingerprints on a bag containing detonating devices in Madrid. Mayfield is held for two weeks as a material witness, without access to his family. Two weeks later, on May 21, Spanish authorities announce that the fingerprinting ID was incorrect.
June 28 - The Supreme Court decides three landmark
cases in the war on terror:
Of the three decisions, that of Hamdi et al v. Rumsfeld turned out to
be the most significant.
The case concerned the fate of Esam Hamdi, an American citizen captured in Afghanistan and held in a Navy brig in South Carolina. The administration had argued that the president had the right to designate any American an "enemy combatant" without first consulting the courts. The Supreme Court's 8 to 1 majority opinion concluded that while the president could keep Hamdi away from the battlefield, that detention could last only until the end of "active combat operations in Afghanistan." After that time, Hamdi must be granted a trial and legal counsel in order to contest his status as an "enemy combatant."
In Rasul v. Bush, the Supreme Court granted foreign nationals detained at Guantanamo the right to file lawsuits to contest both their detentions and conditions at the base.
In Rumsfeld v. Padilla et al, the court essentially punted, arguing that Jose Padilla should have brought his case before South Carolina, where he is being held indefinitely. Nevertheless, Padilla's case will likely resolve itself along the lines of Hamdi, meaning that Padilla will get to contest his status as an "enemy combatant" before civilian courts.
July 8 - President Bush vows to veto a Congressional spending bill if it includes an amendment to curb features of the Patriot Act. The amendment eventually fails on a 210-210 vote, with the Republican leadership holding the floor open for longer than the traditional 15 minutes in order to get the votes it needed. The amendment would have limited the Justice Department's ability to force book dealers, librarians, and others to surrender records.
September 21 - Yusuf Islam, Islam convert, peace activist, and singer known as Cat Stevens, is diverted on his flight from London to the United States. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge accuses Islam of having an "unspecified relationship with terrorist activity." Islam was denied entry to the United States when the diverted aircraft landed in Maine. He is taken to Boston and Washington.
September 22 - Yusuf Islam is sent back home to London on another United flight from Dulles International Airport. US government officials determined he was on the government's "no-fly" antiterror list, however he was allowed to board the plane in Britain due to a spelling error. "Yousouf Islam" is on the no-fly registry, but the British passport of the former Cat Stevens has the name "Yusuf Islam". TSA alleges that Islam has links to terrorist groups, which he has denied. (CNN)
September 30 - A federal judge in New York rules unconstitutional a portion of the USA Patriot Act that allows the FBI to demand information from Internet service providers without judicial oversight or public review. (Most of Judge Victor Marrero's ruling, however, did not focus on the Patriot Act, but rather earlier statutes upon which the Patriot Act expanded.) John Ashcroft promises to appeal the decision.
November 17 - The Department of Homeland security requires that its 180,000 employees and contractors sign a secrecy pledge, covering sensitive but unclassified information.
December 18 - The U.S. government cuts the satellite feed of al-Manar, Hizbullah's television station. The administration declares the station a "terror organization."
2005
January 1 - The Washington Post reports that the administration is preparing long-range plans to hold indefinitely those detainees whom it does not want to set free or turn over to the courts.
January 18 - White House counsel Alberto Gonzales says that the CIA and other nonmilitary personnel are not bound by a 2002 presidential directive that pledged the humane treatment of prisoners in American custody. Gonzales also claims that a Congressional ban on cruel, unusual treatment had a "limited reach" and did not apply in all cases to "aliens overseas."
2006-2008
April 2007 - Democratic
Presidential Debate
Six years after the 9/11 attacks, the term "war on terror" was
fading from the accepted political lexicon. When NBC anchor Brian Williams
asked the Democratic candidates to raise their hands if they "believe
there is such a thing as a global war on terror," only half of the
participants in the April 2007 Democratic debate raised their hands.
April 17, 2007 - British Shed "War on Terror" language
June 12, 2008 - Boumediene
et. al. v. Bush, President of the United States
The Supreme Court strikes down the military commissions President Bush
established to try suspected members of al-Qaeda, rejecting an anti-terrorism
measure and the assertion of unchecked executive power. (Washington
Post )