August 6, 2007 Remembering Hiroshima

Over a hundred of us gathered outside the gates of Livermore Labs to
commemorate the victims of nuclear weapons and war, and to call for
the global elimination of nuclear weapons, starting with our own.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, managed by the University of
California and a consortium of corporations, including Bechtel, is
one of two labs that have designed every nuclear weapon in the U.S.
stockpile and is currently designing a new hydrogen bomb,
euphemistically called a “Reliable Replacement Warhead.”

Jackie Cabasso, executive director of Western States Legal
Foundation, said: “Sixty-two years after the U.S. dropped the first
atomic bombs on two densely populated cities, killing more than
200,000 civilians, the threatened first use of nuclear weapons
remains the ‘cornerstone’ of U.S. national security policy. Today,
the U.S. retains some 10,000 nuclear weapons, is designing new ones,
and is pouring billions of dollars into its nuclear weapons complex,
while warning Iran that ‘all options are on the table.’ Who is
threatening whom?”

There was music, poetry, and remembrances. Chizu Iiyama spoke: “This
day, August 6th, is a time to reflect on the madness of war, of
killing thousands of people, destroying and burning their homes and
communities.” She concluded: “When we visited my mother-in-law’s home
in Hiroshima after World War II, she kept asking, ‘Why the bomb?
Why?’ We need to work to stop not only nuclear proliferation, but
the act of war.”

An air-raid siren and a long minute of silence brought alive the
moment when the bomb fell. People lay upon the pavement, to have
their bodies outlined in chalk, as a visual reminder of those who
were incinerated instantly.

Although Americans were told that the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki to end the war quickly “to save millions of lives,”
scholars have uncovered documents, such as meeting notes, that
shatter that “lie.”

Before I joined with 29 other people (including Daniel Ellsberg) in a
symbolic act of non-violent civil disobedience, to be arrested for
blocking entry into the labs, I spoke on behalf of the Northern
California 9/11 Truth Alliance:

"I speak for truth. Sun Tzu wrote thousands of years ago that "War is
based on deception." The largest deception is the self-deception of
rulers who believe that they are superior to everyone else and have
the right to kill and control others. We entered World War II on the
basis of a deception. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were deceptions, too.
They didn't drop the bombs to end a war, but to launch a new war of
terror against all people--the Cold War. Aung San Suu Kyi wrote: "It
is not power that corrupts, but fear--fear of losing power and fear
of the scourge of those who wield it."

The global elite are afraid of us, the world's people, and afraid of
the truth. They use terror and fear to try to control us.

The war on terror is a fraud. It is a war of terror against all of
us, and the entire planet. 9/11 has never been criminally
investigated. The director of the 9/11 Commission was Philip Zelikow,
who co-authored a book with Condoleezza Rice and wrote the
"Pre- Emptive War Doctrine." Just as Pearl Harbor was used to create the
National Security State, 9/11 is being used to create a Global Police
State. Now they are promising us a nuclear 9/11; if it happens, it
will be by the hands of those responsible for 9/11. We need a real
investigation to stop the real perpetrators.

The only antidote to fear is courage. I hope that the peace and
justice movements will find the courage to join with the truth
movement. War relies on deception. Truth can stop war. We need truth
and courage, now."