September
2005

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Activists from Camp Casey deliver anti-war letters to Laura Bush in Crawford, TX, August 2005. Photo: Jeff Paterson.

2 From the Editor's Desk

4 Democracy is Replaced by Illusions: Iraqis Speak about the Occupation
By Mary Trotochaud
Occupation does not end when the occupier says it ends. It ends when the occupier leaves and the people of a country make their own decisions.

5 Act to End the War in Iraq: A Call from United for Peace and Justice
These three days of actions will send a clear message to the White House and Congress: The Iraq war must end.

7 Heeding the Call of the Minutemen
By Joanna Swanger
Progressives should stop dismissing out of hand the efforts -- however misguided -- by groups such as the Minutemen, for the sense of disenfranchisement that spurs such efforts is genuine and is not going away.

10 An Opening for Truth at the Atomic Testing Museum
By Zachary Moon
I recognized a powerful possibility: a tiny opening that might offer some opportunity for reconciliation and truth telling.

12 Lingering Shadows
By Zia Mian
Nuclear weapons have come to be seen as symbols of strength, power, and prestige in the past sixty years, even though they are the quintessential weapons of mass destruction

14 City of Hiroshima Peace Declaration, August 6, 2005
By Tadatoshi Akiba
This anniversary is a time of inheritance, of awakening, and of commitment.

15 Massachusetts House of Representatives Supports Nuclear Abolition
Last month, Massachusetts State Representatives made history by voting to adopt a resolution to ban nuclear weapons and support the international Mayors for Peace campaign

16 Speaking Truth to Power: The Fight to Shut Down Vermont Yankee
By Hattie Nestel
Vermont activists are challenging a quiet, nationwide push by the energy industry to wring more power out of the nation's aging nuclear plants.

18 No "Gold Standard" for Killing
By Susannah Sheffer
"What I want you to understand is that executions create more victims, too."

22 Pieces
Events, Opportunities, Campaigns, Resources

24 Worlds Apart: 9/11 First Responders Against War
By Erin Miller
"There's something really wrong in the world when I'm not afraid to run up a 100-story building that's on fire, but I'm afraid to tell my firehouse that I don't think we should go to war in Afghanistan."

Short Takes
6 Urge Congress to Take One STEP towards Withdrawal
9 Farm Children Threatened by Toxic Pesticides
9 Some Borderlands Numbers at a Glance
20 Quaker Initiative to End Torture
21 Jennifer Harbury to be 2005 Pat Farren lecturer

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