True Crimes: The Untold Story Behind the Devastation of Iraq

fuckfuck Posts: 4,069
edited June 2008 in A Moving Train
This is a really cool event taking place in New York City on June 3rd. If any of you guys will be in town that day, I suggest you check it out. I plan on being there.

True Crimes: The Untold Story Behind the Devastation of Iraq

Where: Town Hall, 123W 43rd St, New York NY 10036
When: June 3, 2008, 7 pm

Probe behind the headlines of the occupation of Iraq with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Chris Hedges, journalist Laila Al-Arian, bestselling author Jeremy Scahill and Seymour Hersh as they discuss the war, the plight of Iraqi civilians and the role of private mercenaries. The event is a dual book launch for Hedges’ and Al-Arian's "Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians" and Scahill's "Blackwater" (in paperback).

The conversation will be followed by audience questions and a book signing.

$10/$15/$20
Purchase tickets at the Town Hall box office at http://www.the-townhall-nyc.org or 212-840-2824 or through Ticketmaster at 212-307-4100 or at http://www.ticketmaster.com
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • g under pg under p Surfing The far side of THE Sombrero Galaxy Posts: 18,200
    Man, I wish I could be there. Hopefully there might be some recording of this meeting on such a critical subject. Maybe a show Democracy Now that I read/listen to may cover it.

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


  • Report back on how it went.

    convey the energy....we all could use some.
    Progress is not made by everyone joining some new fad,
    and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
    over specific principles, goals, and policies.

    http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg

    (\__/)
    ( o.O)
    (")_(")
  • fuckfuck Posts: 4,069
    I don't think Democracy Now or any other program is hosting, but I'll check and get back to you guys.

    I'll definitely report back on how it went.

    sucks though, I KNOW there are tons of pj fans who live in NYC... can no one really make it?
  • fuckfuck Posts: 4,069
    bump

    So I found out that Democracy Now will be there, but I'm not sure if they're going to rebroadcast the event. I don't know about CSPAN, but I'll try to find out.
  • CosmoCosmo Posts: 12,225
    The entire Iraq fiasco is a crime against America as well as a crime against Iraq. Those responsible for this shit NEED TO BE HELD RESPONSIBLE.
    Allen Fieldhouse, home of the 2008 NCAA men's Basketball Champions! Go Jayhawks!
    Hail, Hail!!!
  • fuckfuck Posts: 4,069
    Cosmo wrote:
    The entire Iraq fiasco is a crime against America as well as a crime against Iraq. Those responsible for this shit NEED TO BE HELD RESPONSIBLE.
    I agree. One of the first steps though is to get the truth about what's really going on in Iraq out there. I feel like there aren't many people at all who really understand what the situation there is like.
  • fuckfuck Posts: 4,069
    I'll bump this one last time since the event is tomorrow.
  • polarispolaris Posts: 3,527
    I'll bump this one last time since the event is tomorrow.

    any chance this is touring?

    let us know how it goes!
  • fuckfuck Posts: 4,069
    polaris wrote:
    any chance this is touring?
    No, I'm afraid it's only a one-time thing for the book launch. I'll definitely give full details about it though.
  • fuckfuck Posts: 4,069
    Ok, so this event was pretty amazing.

    First of all, I guess I should mention that I'm on the authors' (Laila Al-Arian) younger brother, so that kind of put things in a different perspective, since I got to meet Hedges, Scahill, and Hersh.

    From the beginning though, Hersh asked a question about what Laila, Jeremy, and Chris thought about the candidates talking about "pulling out of Iraq." He was asking questions like "Is it really as simple as just pulling our troops immediately, or do we have a moral obligation to do more? What about the vets when they come back here?" Scahill took this opportunity to mention that Obama's Iraq War Strategy is nothing but Bush's plan, repackaged. He also pointed to a story he wrote for The Nation magazine (http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080317/scahill) to support this.

    Scahill went on to talk about how he believes the US has to pay reparations to the Iraqi people for the damage they did to their country. Laila stepped in at this point and said that we have a moral obligation to see what the Iraqi people want for their own country and not to make the decisions for them. She pointed to statistics which showed that 1.2 million Iraqis have died as a result of this war, and 5 million have been displaced to other countries. She said that while she was in Syria interviewing Iraqi refugees, she saw how terribly they were living, and that the US has only been accepting a few thousand refugees (she said something like "Even Sweden, a much smaller country than the US, has accepted 30,000 Iraqi refugees, considerably more than the country who is currently occupying Iraq").

    After that they went on to talk about their two books. Laila and Chris Hedges' books is mainly made up of interviews of 50 or more Iraq war veterans talking about the war and the occupation of Iraq. At one point one of the soldiers who was interviewed came up on stage to talk about his organization (Iraq Vets Against the War) and basically went on to say that there are nearly 16,000 war veterans that are back who are staunch advocates of ending the war, and I believe he said that the majority of the soldiers in Iraq (maybe 80% or something) are actually against the occupation over there.

    They answered more questions about the candidates this year. Scahill went on to trash Obama/Clinton/McCain a little (even though he mentioned that most of his best friends are huge Obama supporters), even though Seymour Hersh mentioned that he was a "little more optimistic than Jeremy" in that he believes a little more in Obama.

    All in all, it was a very good event. Afterwards we went out to Bryant Park together and I was able to speak a lot more freely with Jeremy and Chris. Chris Hedges is a friend and supporter of Ralph Nader, so we had some pretty cool conversations together :D . Jeremy is really laid back and really cool, so it was great talking to him, and he recommended me lots of books and stuff.
  • g under pg under p Surfing The far side of THE Sombrero Galaxy Posts: 18,200
    Thanks so much, sounds like a very informatiive meeting. OUTSTANDING!

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


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