Is "Good German" Status Quo The Order Of Our Day? #Aegis9

Jason Rawn leading a Maine Peace Walk in 2014

Today's guest post by civil disobedient Jason Rawn was rejected by the Times Record. A daily paper local to General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works plant, the Times Record customarily publishes a monthly opinion column written by various Peaceworks members. In July the editor refused the submitted piece saying that drawing connections between the present day and the Holocaust is "a bit much." But is it? You be the judge.

Are We The "Good Germans" Now?  

by Jason Rawn 

I'm not sure why, but the bagpipes before the Red Sox game against Toronto over the Independence Day Weekend got me thinking about international law and whether it affects us locally in Midcoast Maine. International law and solidarity help motivate people around the world to work together toward peace and justice. International law, including the Nuremberg Principles, has been a significant motivator of three groups of activists who have demonstrated at BIW for peace and conversion of the so-called "permanent war economy" over the decades.  

On Easter Sunday, March 31, 1991, 5 activists with the Plowshares movement were arrested for "monkey-wrenching" US warmaking at BIW. (Plowshares actions are well-planned nonviolent direct actions that have taken place around the world against warmaking. They often incorporate candles, prayer and other elements of Catholic worship.)  

The 1991 Plowshares action at BIW consisted of hammering and pouring blood on the cruise missile launch systems of the Aegis-equipped USS Gettysburg. They left behind a statement "against the American enslavement to war at the Bath Iron Works." Citing the deaths of thousands of Iraqi people, they left an indictment charging Bush, Cheney, the National Security Council, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff with war crimes. 

 According to the book Swords Into Plowshares: Nonviolent Direct Action for Disarmament, Peace, and Social Justice, after spending nearly two hours in the shipyard and on the warship, the five turned themselves in and were arrested. "After rejecting unsecured bond in court on April 1, all five were released unconditionally on April 3 pending trial by the state of Maine on charges of criminal trespass. Without explanation, the state decided against prosecuting them, and charges were dismissed one day before their scheduled trial."

Jason in straw hat abut to be arrested with other Zumwalt 12 members

Over the past year or so, I've risked arrest and have been arrested at the last two "christenings" of General Dynamics’ warships. Despite the fact that my fellow demonstrators and I were working to uphold international law, those who stood trial were found guilty of "obstructing the public way" by a jury of our peers in our 3-day "Zumwalt 12" civil resistance trial last February. We had been arrested in Washington Street outside the June 18, 2016 demonstration at the christening of the USS Michael Monsoor, one of three $7 billion Zumwalt first-strike destroyers slated to be made at BIW. (We perpetrators have since contributed over 300 hours of court-mandated community service throughout Maine.)

Aegis 9 outside the Bath Iron Works shipyard of General Dynamics April 1, 2017

Last April Fools Day, nine of us (The "Aegis 9") were arrested in the snow and slush during a nonviolent protest at the christening of the USS Thomas Hudner, an Aegis first-strike destroyer. This year's arrests came 27 years almost to the day after the 1991 Plowshares action. It remains to be seen whether charges will be dropped right before trial this time around. Judge Matthews, Justice Billings, and the prosecution all made it clear that jail is a possibility for some defendants if found guilty by their peers on the jury. This multi-day trial is likely to be in either September or November.

 Will international law hold any sway in the Aegis 9 trial, or will a "Good German"-style status quo win the day? 

Good Germans were those who followed Nazi orders and made possible the bureaucracy and infrastructure of the Holocaust. The Nuremberg Principles were created, in part, to make it clear that individuals are, indeed, responsible for their actions: supposedly, there's no "just following orders" defense. The Nuremberg Principles resulted from the trial of over 1,600 Nazis beginning in 1950. This brief charter of seven principles of international law states, among other things, that the planning and the preparation for wars of aggression are crimes against peace. 

Graphic by 5W Infographics of data from the Pentagon's annual Base Structure Report, 2015

Looking at the proliferation of US war bases around the world - over 800 - and the fact that both the Aegis and the Zumwalt destroyers which dock at some of those bases are first-strike weapons, it's easy to consider continuous US military intervention as war of aggression, easy to consider US foreign policy as criminal. But what about the planning and preparation by General Dynamics for this continuous war of aggression, which is essentially their business model? At what pay scale (if any) could employees of weapons manufacturers be held liable for their livelihood-related crimes against peace?

Jason was arrested April 1 dressed as "Angas" King, Maine's General Dynamics loving senator.

Are either of our multimillionaire US senators - both of whom have accepted tens of thousands of dollars in campaign sponsorship contributions specifically from General Dynamics, not to mention impressive sums from other war profiteer corporations - accomplices in these crimes against peace?

I was arrested April 1 dressed as Senator Susan Collins displaying her corporate sponsorships.

And what about us taxpayers who pay for the warships themselves? Do we, as a whole, know that over half of the discretionary portion of the federal budget pays for war? 

And do we taxpayers also pay the $21.2 million-a-year salary of General Dynamics Corp's CEO, Phebe Novakovic?

(Over $5 million of that compensation package was a bonus!) 

 Once you start looking, it's hard to miss the significant connections between global warfare, our local community and economy, the health of our rivers, cuts in human needs spending, and even just the view from the bridge as you take in the rotating exhibit of warships as you cross.
  

Nuremberg Principle IV states that the fact that a person acts pursuant to order of a government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him.

  

 

We have choices as humans, as workers, as taxpayers, as citizens, as Earthlings.

We must recognize this. And act (or not act) accordingly. At least that's what they thought in the direct aftermath of German fascism.
 

Jason Rawn is a member of PeaceWorks. He lives in Bath, Maine.

Which Side Are You On In The Struggle Against Corporate Government? #Aegis9

Three of the Aegis 9 (me, Mark Roman and Russell Wray) outside West Bath District Court yesterday.
Not pictured: Jessica Stewart, Natasha Mayers, Jason Rawn, Bob Dale, Bruce Gagnon and Mike Tork.

Yesterday's disposition hearing for the Aegis 9 was interesting. I am among the group arrested April 1, 2017 and charged with criminal trespass at General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works shipyard. An Aegis "destroyer" battleship was being "christened" that day and the general public was invited inside. We were not.

At the hearing yesterday the prosecutor was a young man who had been assisting the prosecutor at the Zumwalt 12 trial earlier this year. One of the Zumwalt 12, Veterans for Peace member Dud Hendrick, recognized him and engaged him in conversation as we waited for the judge.

Bob Dale, Dud Hendrick and Bruce Gagnon outside the courtroom.

Asked if he had gone through with his plan to enlist, the young prosecutor told Dud that he had, indeed, transitioned to becoming an officer in JAG, the U.S. Army's legal department. He reported that he was satisfied with this decision as he used to have to salute a lot of people as an enlisted soldier but now people had to salute him. Also, the pay was much better.

I have often thought that perhaps the military and wars exist primarily so that men can feel more smart and powerful than they may in fact actually be. This exchange tended to confirm my suspicion.

Logan E. Perkins, Perkins Law Office, logan@belfastcriminallaw.com

On our side was attorney Logan Perkins of Belfast who specializes in criminal law and has a particular interest in defending those involved in nonviolent civil disobedience. She is representing me and two other Aegis 9 defendants, and advising the group as a whole (six will go pro se i.e. will represent themselves.)

Logan has just completed a transition of her own, from practicing in a firm to private practice. This gives her the freedom to become more involved in civil disobedience cases.

As a group we were impressed with her understanding of the matter and the process, and her strong representation of our rights at yesterday's disposition hearing. For instance, she engaged the judge around the issue of voire dire, the preliminary questioning of jurors. Most states allow attorneys to do this but in Maine the practice has been that only the judge may convey a defendant's or counsel's questions to jurors. As Logan rightly pointed out, there is no law preventing Maine from adjusting its practice in this regard.

Professional norms dictated that Logan and the prosecutor with the buzz cut who now gets saluted be cordial and respectful to one another, and indeed they were. But make no mistake -- there are two sides in this case, and I know which one I want to be on.

Aegis 9 defendant Natasha Mayers of ARRT! and supporter

Peter Woodruff, who retired from Bath Iron Works with work-related health issues.

A side note: two other attorneys who were waiting around for their dispo hearings chatted with Logan and ended up offering their pro bono services to any other members of the Aegis 9 who might opt for representation.

Zumwalt 12 members on hand yesterday either as members of or supporters of the Aegis 9.

Left to right: Jason Rawn, Dud Hendrick, Bruce Gagnon, John Peck, Joan Peck and Russell Wray.

Back at home my husband and I reflected on how grateful we are to be part of such a remarkable team. We spent hours on hard benches yesterday in the company of some of the most intelligent, compassionate and dedicated people we've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Our group is also being advised by seasoned attorneys Lynne Williams and Phil Worden who offer valuable perspective and insight on defending against charges arising from nonviolent civil disobedience. And we were supported in the courtroom yesterday by two additional members of the Zumwalt 12, Joan and John Peck.

The prosecutor offered all of the Aegis 9 a plea bargain. Mine would have been a $250 fine while the three of us who were also members of the Zumwalt 12 -- Bruce Gagnon, Jason Rawn, and Russell Wray -- were offered three days in jail. All of us declined these offers.

It looks as if we will find out at a docket call on August 29 whether our trial will be in September or November.

I'm confident that lots of supporters will join us for the actual trial in Sagadahoc County Court, which looks like it will take 2 or 3 days. Our trial by a jury of our peers will take place in downtown Bath within blocks of General Dynamics and its highly profitable weapons of mass destruction plant. 

Also this week four young people in Des Moines, Iowa were arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience, cleverly constructing devices to block a military base where weaponized drones are operated to kill civilians overseas. Stay tuned.

The Immense Cost To Our Planetary Environment Of Our Government’s Addiction To War-making

Painted banner by the author of this post, Russell Wray.

Today I'm sharing an op-ed written by Zumwalt 12 member Russell Wray, a fantastic artist with a focus on loving and protecting marine life.

Russell's op-ed was first published in the Bangor Daily News on January 30, 2017 under the headline "BIW should make life-affirming products instead of death machines."

On February 1st, the trial of the Zumwalt 12 will begin. We will be going to stand trial for obstructing a public way just outside of the Bath Iron Works (BIW), during a  protest of the “christening” of a Navy Zumwalt destroyer this past June 18th. 

Though none of us dispute the fact that we did indeed block traffic on the road for approximately ten minutes, we are pleading not-guilty, and the jury will hear why we believe our action was not only reasonable, but it was also necessary, in order to try to prevent a much greater crime that would do far greater harm to our planet.  

Four of the Zumwalt 12 are veterans of the US military, all members of Veterans For Peace, who strongly believe that our nation’s militaristic, imperialist policies and actions are in violation of international law and have made the US a rogue state. They recognize the fact that the Zumwalt has nothing to do with defending the coastline of the United States, for it was designed and built to be a stealth, forward deployed attack weapon.  

Like other Navy warships, it will likely be ported at some of the roughly one thousand US bases around the world. These bases usually come at the expense of the local people’s right to decide for themselves if they even want that base on their own lands and waters, as well as their right to a healthy environment. For these veterans, sitting down in the road at BIW was “an act of civil resistance, not a matter of breaking the law, but an action taken in response to broken laws.”

It was a cry out to the American people to look at what our government is doing to others around the world, in our name.

A number of us choose to take this action for deeply held faith-based reasons. One of these has stated that “As a follower of the nonviolent Jesus, I found it impossible to remain silent as another weapon of mass destruction was blessed and prepared for delivery to the Navy…..Through the simple act of sitting down and refusing to move, we embodied a resounding “No” to the immeasurable suffering caused by national policies that have made weapons of mass destruction and unrestrained, endless war our country’s major exports.”

Members of the jury will also be hearing from some of us economic reasons for opposing these warships. Only three of these ships having been, or are being built thus far, at a staggering cost of over $21 billion. This brings to mind President Eisenhower's  famous quote: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children…” 

There is also the immense cost to our planetary environment brought about by our government’s addiction to war-making. 

To mention only two of the innumerable ways our planet is suffering this addiction: The Pentagon’s vast carbon footprint, the Pentagon being the single largest contributor to climate disruption on the planet. The other, an important reason for my own participation in the action, is the great harm being done to marine life because of the Navy’s refusal to take meaningful, commonsense mitigation measures that would drastically reduce impacts resulting from its reckless use of sonar. 

While we each had our own personal reasons that led us to sit down in the road that day, it’s fair to say that we all share the belief that if we are going to continue living on this planet, it is absolutely necessary that we move away from militarism and war towards a more sustainable culture of diplomacy and cooperation, where justice prevails, and we care for one another and the Earth. 

We would all be much better off, if instead of building death machines, BIW’s skilled workers were building high-speed rail, wind turbines, and other sustainable, life-affirming products. Lets make that change happen!

Jason Rawn, #Zumwalt12: More Harmful To Agree To Pay Federal Income Tax Than It Is To Choose To Refuse

Jason Rawn being arrested in Bath June 18, 2016 (photo: Regis Tremblay)

The youngest member of the Zumwalt 12 is Jason Rawn, a Maine permaculture worker and dedicated international peace activist. Jason has traveled to Jeju Island in South Korea to stand with villagers resisting the destruction of their traditional fishing and farming economy by a naval port for ships like the Zumwalt destroyer, and to Okinawa to stand with people resisting U.S. military bases there.

The outcome of the three day trial, which concluded yesterday, was a verdict of guilty and a fine of $250. According to Jason, "Most of us told the judge we'd refuse to pay fines. We were sentenced to 30 hours of community service. The jury only took about 15 minutes deliberating. I heard that three members of the jury re-entered the courtroom to observe sentencing after they were dismissed." 

I am excited to be able to share Jason Rawn's testimony from February 2, day two of the Zumwalt 12 trial. It is one of the best short essays on the folly of militarism as an economic model that I have ever read.

Jason Rawn

I have waived my right to remain silent. My testimony here is in support of the reasonableness (not "rightness") of my obstructing the public way last June. From the get go I will say that my actions on June 18 do not support the status quo. This is intentional. Many of us learned a bit about Thoreau in school. We have at least some grasp of "civil disobedience" and understand that civil disobedience is a real thing with a long history in the US and elsewhere. I think the popular anecdote is that Ralph Waldo Emerson went to bail Thoreau out of jail where he was because he refused to pay taxes in support of the Spanish-American War. 

"What are you doing in there," Emerson asks his friend.

"What are you doing out there?" Thoreau replies.

Just because we prefer not to look at something, that doesn't mean it's insignificant.  

Just as Justice Billings is allowing testimony in this trial regarding our motives for obstructing the public way, so it makes sense to consider where the $4-7 billion Zumwalt warships go once they leave Bath, to be loaded up with over $84 million worth of ammunition each and heading to US war bases on foreign soil thousands of miles from home to do or to threaten to do exactly what they were manufactured to do:  

Destroy hundreds of targets at a rate of up to ten per minute! 

I'm going to give some easy to find facts and figures as part of my testimony, and I will argue that war profiteers General Dynamics steal from US taxpayers and the City of Bath in multiple ways. It's important to have an understanding of how the products made by workers here in Bath affect not only Bath, but the state of Maine, the nation, our whole planet.  

But first I'll tell you a little more about my history as a dedicated peace person, someone concerned enough about the crimes of war and war profiteering to actually stop investing my hard-earned money in them, regardless of potential persecution. My opinion is that in the big picture, it's more harmful to agree to pay federal income tax than it is to choose to refuse to pay.  

About ten years ago, I became a War Tax Resister (WTR). I stopped paying the IRS because I learned that more than 50% of the discretionary portion of the US budget is misinvested every year in war through war profiteering corporations like General Dynamics.  

WTRs are conscientious objectors to paying taxes that fund organized violence.

Some file, but instead of sending a check, send a letter explaining that they'd gladly pay federal income taxes if the money wasn't going to be used to pay for war and war profiteering. Others send a check, but withhold a certain percentage or a symbolic amount. Still others deposit their "redirected" funds into escrow accounts or donate to grassroots peace organizations, school music programs, etc.  

As for me, last time I made more than the taxable amount, somewhere around $10,000, I redirected the full amount - I think it was around $1,200 - to local organizations, including WERU Community Radio and Maine Organic Farming and Gardening Association (MOFGA), hosts of the Common Ground Fair. 

Basically, WTR is a form of divestment from war and war profiteers. Since then, I have been living in voluntary poverty. I believe in working with others to achieve common goals, but I refuse to pay for war.  

War profiteering, getting rich off of war, is a lucrative form of organized crime, a kind of thievery that involves the funneling of our tax dollars through the IRS and war profiteering corporations to benefit a tiny group of political and financial elites. US-based General Dynamics, corporate owners of the world-class metal fabrication facility Bath Iron Works (BIW), consistently ranks as one of the world's top ten war profiteering corporations. In addition to the Darth Vadery Zumwalts, they also manufacture nuclear submarines, tanks,  combat jets, private jets for the rich, etc.  

Banner by the Artists' Rapid Response Team (ARRT!) of the Union of Maine Visual Artists

In 2013, General Dynamics reported earnings of $31.2 billion. Despite that, General Dynamics also attempted to fleece  the City of Bath for over $6 million in tax breaks. These tax breaks were in the form of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreements. The people of Bath organized, however, and cut the corporate subsidy by $3 million!  

But somehow, General Dynamics was still able to afford to give its CEO, former CIA operative Phebe Novakovic, a $12 million raise, pushing her total compensation to over $18 million in 2013 alone. Is that reasonable? Maybe not, but that's how it works: Bleed everyday people so the rich can take a few more million.  

Zumwalt 12 co-defendant Bruce Gagnon

And in the meantime, the US military has been identified as having the largest or one of the largest carbon bootprints on the planet. This means that the US military and its activities contribute to climate change more than any other individual institution on the consumer end. It's widely recognized that climate change is a clear and present danger to life on our planet. War profiteering corporations such as General Dynamics make this magnitude of destruction possible. Actually, war and war profiteering drive climate change. 

Another example of the big picture, long-term, exponential effects of a war profiteering economy is that, by fleecing taxpayers in the present, war profiteers strengthen the entrenched war-based economy into a future of endless war. Not a good legacy to be leaving our children. There are alternatives.  

Maine's congressional delegation pledging allegiance at General Dynamics as a warship is "christened" [sic] April, 2014

The 5,600 jobs General Dynamics needs to fill in order to make its profits through BIW are important. But this 5,600 is a small number relative to the number of jobs that would be created by investing our tax dollars in peace. So while it's true that the war profiteering economy creates some wealth, investment in peace produces more prosperity for more people. 

In their 2007 study "The US Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities," UMASS Amherst's Political Economy Research Institute demonstrates that, per billion dollars, investment in war creates fewer jobs and less general wealth than investment in four areas:  

• health care (50.2% more jobs, 29.3% increase in total wages and benefits relative to defense) 
• education (106.7% more jobs, 131.4% increase in wages/benefits) 
• mass transit (131.4% more jobs, 55.9% increase in wages/benefits) 
• and construction relating to weatherization and infrastructure improvements (49.7% more jobs, 22.9% increase in wages/benefits). 

So while it may seem foolish or somehow disrespectful to discuss details about jobs and war profiteering right here in Bath, where 5,600 people are considered "lucky" to have decent union jobs at BIW, it's neither foolish nor disrespectful. Corporations are planning for their futures. These futures do not bode well for non-elites, those forced out of economic necessity to build weapons, those who will never receive a $12 million raise. 

Or even a measly $1 million raise.

Jason Rawn, left, doing political theater at the Women's March on Maine! January 21, 2017

My comment: Jason, Thoreau would be proud of you.

Was It Unreasonable For #Zumwalt12 To Block The Road In Front Of Bath Iron Works?

Today I am sharing this report back from #Zumwalt12 defendant Bruce Gagnon's blog Organizing Notes:

"Prior to the start of our Zumwalt 12 trial today in Bath, Maine supporters from all over the state gathered at 8:00 am with defendants outside the Sagadahoc County Courthouse.

At the start of trial more than 60 supporters were in the courtroom - with more having to wait outside in the hall because there were not enough seats inside.

After opening statements by many of the defendants the state brought a string of policemen to the stand to point out each of us who were arrested at Bath Iron Works on June 18 when we protested at the 'christening' of a new $4 billion Zumwalt stealth destroyer.

The trial resumes in the morning at 9:00 am in Bath.

Below is my opening statement that I gave to the court and the jury:

Opening statement

My name is Bruce Gagnon and I live here in Bath – in fact our house is just a few doors down Centre St.  

I grew up in an Air Force family, living behind the barbed wire fences on bases throughout the US, England and Germany.  In 1968 (at 16 years old) I was Vice-President of the Okaloosa County, Florida Young Republican Club working on the Nixon for president campaign.

In 1971 I tried to join the Air Force like my dad (who was from a paper mill family in Rumford) but flunked my induction physical because of a high school football injury.  I had to get a medical waiver to get into the military at a time when most young men my age were trying to avoid the Vietnam War draft.

After my training I was sent to a base in California that was an airlift base for the war.  GI’s from around the country came to our base to fly to Vietnam and when the planes returned they would bring the body bags of dead soldiers along with the wounded. 

One day a GI came to our base and refused to get on the plane to fly to Vietnam.  Instead he sat on a curb and cut his penis off.  It was at this base that I changed and became a peace activist.  I’ve been organizing full time in the peace movement since 1983 after first working as a organizer for the United Farmworkers Union organizing fruit pickers in Florida.

I want to explain my thinking about this case so that as you listen to us you will have an idea what to pay attention to.  I am going to testify under oath that our actions at BIW on June 18 were reasonable.  I will admit that I sat in the road on Washington Street in front of the shipyard as the ‘christening’ ceremony was beginning.  

The judge will explain to you that the law requires the state to prove much more to you than that we blocked part of Washington Street.  The state must prove we were being unreasonable.  

As you listen to us please remember your oath to presume that we are innocent unless the state can convince you that beyond a shadow of a doubt that what we did on June 18 was unreasonable.

You will hear me testify that I believe our country’s democracy is now in danger and that real citizens input and fair policies are difficult to bring about because of the undue extraordinary influence of corporations (like General Dynamics) and the big money they put into our elections.  I will testify that every day, ordinary citizens, like myself, and like each of us in this courtroom, have a hard time getting our meager voices heard by the big wigs in Washington.  

I will testify that sometimes we need to do a Boston Tea Party type action.  In fact our own national independence was kicked-off by a non-violent act of civil disobedience which I am sure that King George in England at the time thought was very unreasonable.

The evidence will show that I spoke with the Bath police department weeks in advance of our protest (as we always do).  Then nine days before the event I emailed the Bath chief of police a copy of the news release announcing that we were going to do civil disobedience that day. 

I will testify that we were trying to remain cooperative while at the same time exercising our first-amendment freedoms to protest what we consider the hugely expensive and horribly destructive Zumwalt ‘stealth’ destroyer that could be used to sneak up on China and blast them with new electro-magnetic rail guns that can fire a shell the distance between Philadelphia and NYC.

We intend to show that we are regular people with important concerns about peace, jobs, climate change, and the cost of the Zumwalt destroyer which will actually worsen our country’s fiscal crisis. 

I will testify that I have been a regular peace vigiler in front of Bath Iron Works for many years.  I’ll describe how I have encouraged other activists to hold signs calling for the conversion of BIW – build offshore wind turbines and commuter rail systems up and down the coast of Maine – getting us out of our polluting cars so we can help lessen our carbon footprint on our Mother Earth so the future generations can live.   

Under oath I will share information about studies that show building rail would double the jobs at BIW since military production is the least cost effective way to create jobs.

photos by Regis Tremblay

Some years ago one BIW worker came to me and asked me to help him draft a petition for shipyard workers saying they wanted to build wind turbines.  He got 800 fellow workers at the shipyard to sign it.  I helped arrange for him to meet with the editor of the Times Record who wrote an editorial congratulating him for his vision.  The editor asked these questions: who ever thought the Navy base would close in Brunswick?  What happens if our fiscally broken nation runs out of money and we have to close BIW?  Shouldn’t the community be talking about alternatives to building increasingly expensive warships?

Our BIW friend, very active in the union, was the first worker to ever speak at a shipyard protest during a ‘christening’ some years ago.  On June 18, the day we were arrested, he was with us at BIW filming the whole event. He is sitting here in the courtroom today.

We know it’s asking a lot to bring these issues to you, our fellow citizens on this jury, but we have few alternatives.  I was taught in the schools on Air Force bases where I grew up that the people controlled our government in this democracy but over the years I’ve learned that everything was not actually as advertised in America.

We have to start somewhere if we hope to return sanity, hope and real democracy to our nation.  We ask you to think about these things we say here.  

Thank you for listening.

Bruce"

War Profiteering Demands Protest Says Jason Rawn, #Zumwalt12

Jason Rawn leading the Maine Walk for Peace & a Sustainable Future in 2014. Photo by Peter Woodruff.

Here I share another statement from the Zumwalt 12. This one is from its youngest member, international peace and permaculture activist Jason Rawn. It was published as a letter to the editor in the Portland Press Herald on January 22, 2017:

War profiteering demands protest

Thank you for printing David Sharp’s Jan. 9 Associated Press article, “Under Trump, Navy plans biggest expansion since Cold War.”

I now realize that 7,000-plus U.S. nuclear weapons and 800-plus U.S. war bases, on foreign soil, aren’t enough to keep the Homeland safe against “resurgent Russia and saber-rattling China” – even though those 800-plus bases aggressively surround Russia and China. What a relief that $5.5 billion in new warships might keep us safe! And what a perfect opportunity to discuss war profiteers General Dynamics Corp., owners of world-class metal fabrication facility Bath Iron Works.

In 2013, General Dynamics boasted revenue of $31.2 billion and gave their CEO, former CIA operative Phebe Novakovic, a $12 million raise. They also attempted to nickel and dime the city of Bath for $6.3 million in tax breaks in the form of a tax increment financing agreement. (Hats off to Bath for nearly halving that amount and for standing up to corporate welfare!)

A lucrative form of organized crime, war profiteering benefits the financial and political elite at the expense of the majority of us. This past year, U.S. elites mis-invested well over $600 billion of our common wealth – by some calculations, over $1 trillion – in war.

I’m one of the “Zumwalt 12,” who were successfully arrested last June 18 during a nonviolent civil resistance action in which we briefly “obstructed the public way” (a Class E misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a $2,000 fine) at the “christening” of the USS Michael Monsoor, the second $4 billion Zumwalt stealth destroyer built by BIW.

Our trial will be at Sagadahoc County Superior Court in Bath from Feb. 1 to 3. We are veterans, artists, architects, teachers. Regular people who understand and behave as if the way things are is not the way things have to be. The way things are is not the way things have to be.

Jason Rawn

Lincolnville

Jason Rawn in an alternate persona at the Womens March in Augusta last weekend.

I found it impossible to remain silent as another weapon of mass destruction was blessed. #Zumwalt12

The Zumwalt 12 in action at Bath Iron Works on June 18, 2016 -- Connie Jenkins is seated, wearing a red shirt and floppy hat.

Connie Jenkins is a peace walker and former public health nurse from Orono, Maine. Here is the wisdom she will offer at the trial of the Zumwalt 12 on February 1 for obstructing a public way:

Statement for Zumwalt trial

Good morning, 

Let me say first that I’m grateful for the chance to briefly explain to you why I decided to risk arrest on June 18th of last year. 

On the face of it, the case against me is very simple.  As the officer testified, I stood and then sat down in the street until I was arrested, I would imagine a time of about 10 minutes.  I did what I’m charged with.   

At the same time, I believe the charge against me is irrelevant because I acted for the greater good according to moral necessity, according to my conscience.  I understand that moral necessity may not be a legal defense.  However, I have sworn to tell “nothing but the truth”; and in truth it is moral necessity that has brought me here. 

I am a Christian peacemaker, a parishioner at St. Paul the Apostle parish in Bangor, and a member of Pax Christi Maine, a Catholic peace and social justice movement guided by the spirituality of nonviolence.  As such, I am called to live my life according to the precepts given by Jesus in the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount.   

I have taken a solemn vow of nonviolence through Pace e Bene, an international peace organization, and as part of that vow, I am committed to helping the struggle to abolish War. 

Jesus declared, Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.   And what that means to me is that if I consider myself to be a Christian, I have to do my part to make a more peaceful world.  I must speak out against War, and take public action for peace.  As a follower of the nonviolent Jesus, I found it impossible to remain silent as another weapon of mass destruction was blessed and prepared for delivery to the Navy.  

 
And so, I joined eleven other men and women who also chose to risk arrest for the cause of Peace.  Through the simple act of sitting down and refusing to move, we embodied a resounding “No” to the immeasurable suffering caused by national policies that have made weapons of mass destruction and unrestrained, endless war our country’s major exports. 

On January 1st, Pope Francis celebrated the 50th World Day of Peace.  In his address, titled “Nonviolence:  A Style of Politics for Peace”, he urged all of us to “make active nonviolence our way of life” and to reject what he calls the “horrifying world war fought piecemeal” in which we find ourselves engaged.   

I’d like to share with you the following remarks from his statement: 

“Violence is not the cure for our broken world.  Countering violence with violence leads at best to . . . enormous suffering because vast amounts of resources are diverted to military ends and away from the everyday needs of young people, families experiencing hardship, the elderly, the infirm and the great majority of people in our world.  At worst, it can lead to the death, physical and spiritual, of many people, if not of all.”

I think about the young men and women in their crisp white uniforms who walked past us that June day on their way to boarding the Destroyer.   And I hope that in seeing us sitting on the ground, waiting to be arrested, a seed was planted which may cause them to deeply reflect on what they have been trained to do and to turn away from the deception and evil and horror of War. 

Thank you.

"The Zumwalt destroyer crew members had to pass by our protest.  We are trying to prepare them for what they will see when they port in Korea, Guam, Philippines, Okinawa, Australia, Japan, Ukraine......the world is fed up with U.S. militarism and 'exceptionalism'." From the blog of Zumwalt 12 member Bruce Gagnon.