Spring 2009 Speakers

Last spring, JPPJ sponsored several nationally recognized peace and justice activists to speak in Juneau. We also worked to coordinate their travel arrangements and schedules with other peace and justice groups in the state. This fall and we are offering more opportunities to listen to informed and dedicated voices as we mark the beginning of the eight year U.S. wars in and around the Middle East. For a preview, see the Coming Events section on this page. If you are interested in a recap of last spring's speakers, see below for the links to our archives.

Ann Wright, retired Army Colonel & U.S. Diplomat : Can Obama REALLY Change U.S. Foreign Policy? Exploring the U.S. responsibility in the Middle East

Raed Jarrar, Iraqi political analyst for the American Friends Service Committee: "Beyond Occupation: The Future of US-Iraq Relations"

Father Louie Vitale, a Franciscan priest, activist, Pace e Bene, and co- founder of Nevada Desert Experience: Citizen Diplomacy with Iran

Restoring America’s Moral Authority: A 10-Point Plan of Action

By Mark Agrast / The Center for American Progress Action Fund
February 28, 2007
As the nations of the world emerged from the devastation of the Second World War, they looked to America for moral leadership. The U.S. heeded the call, playing a pivotal role in codifying international norms for the protection of human rights—from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the 1949 Geneva Conventions—and in creating permanent institutions to uphold those norms and punish those who violate them.

Today, America’s moral authority lies in ruins. The Bush administration’s unilateralist policies and contempt for the law have weakened the international system and the standards of civilized conduct which our nation did so much to put in place. The U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay is a betrayal of everything America fought for 60 years ago, which is why the Center for American Progress Action Fund has joined with leading human rights, civil liberties and religious organizations to urge congressional leaders to adopt a 10-point plan for restoring America’s moral authority.

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