H-PAD Notes 11/18/19: Yemen war; links to recent articles of interest

While impeachment is blanketing other issues, many crucial items are pending. Negotiations between House and Senate leadership are underway on the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The House bill includes an amendment that would end US support to, and participation in, the Saudi-led coalition’s military operations in Yemen. The Senate version of the NDAA did not include this prohibition. Now that the bill is in conference, it is vitally important that the Democratic leadership in the Senate support this House amendment.

Whether or not Minority Leader Charles Schumer is your Senator, please call his office and urge him to support this amendment. We suggest that you use this number, which has been provided by the Friends Committee on National Legislation: 1-833-786-7927. This will provide you with additional information and maintain a count of calls to Sen. Schumer’s office.

H-PAD legislative coordinators:

Carolyn Rusti Eisenberg

Prasannan Parthasarathi

“The Whistleblowers of the My Lai Massacre”
By Howard Jones, History News Network, posted November 17
The author is an emeritus professor of history at the University of Alabama and author of My Lai: Vietnam, 1968 and the Descent into Darkness (Oxford U. Press, 1917, paperback 1919).

“The President and the Blob”
By Andrew J. Bacevich and Rajan Menon, Boston Review, posted November 11
A trenchant critique both of President Trump’s Syria decisions and of longtime bipartisan policies that have led to repeated disastrous involvements in the Middle East. The authors are, respectively, an emeritus professor of history and international relations at Boston University and a professor of political science at City College of New York.

“When ‘High Body Count’ Was an American War Policy”
By Nick Turse, The American Conservative, posted November 11
On the mass killings of Vietnamese civilians aimed at giving the US leverage in the peace talks starting in late 1968.

“Why We Must Reclaim ‘Armistice Day'”
By Danny Sjursen, The American Conservative, posted November 11
“The original spirit was ‘Never again.’ Now in an era of forever war, we celebrate vets with a mere ‘thank you.'” The author is a retired US Army major who formerly taught history at West Point.

“The Berlin Wall Fell and the U.S. Learned the Wrong Lessons. It Got Us Donald Trump”
By Andrew Bacevich, CommonDreams.com, posted November 8
The author, a retired colonel in the US Army and professor emeritus of history and international relations at Boston University, is president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

“The Massacre That Spawned the Alt-Right”
By Shaun Assael and Peter Keating, Politico, posted November 3
On the organized murder of five anti-Klan activists in Greensboro, NC forty years ago (Nov. 3, 1979) by Ku Klux Klan and Nazi party members.

“How Richard Nixon Captured White Rage – and Laid the Groundwork for Donald Trump”
By Scott Laderman, Washington Post, posted November 3
The author teaches history at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.

“William Loren Katz: Teacher, Author, Editor and Activist (1927-2019)”
By Alan Singer, History News Network, posted October 31
A tribute to the author of more than forty popularly written US history books, who died October 25 at age 92. Alan Singer is a historian and chair of Hofstra University’s Department of Teaching, Learning and Technology.

“Killing Your Own Frankenstein Is Not Heroic”
By Jeremy Kuzmarov, Oklahoma Observer, posted October 30
On the US raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Kakr al-Baghdadi. The author teaches history at Tulsa Community College.

“The Ukraine Whistleblower and the Rise of Partisan Whistleblowing”
By Hannah Gurman and Kaiten Mistry, Foreign Policy in Focus, posted October 17
The authors teach at New York University and the University of East Anglia, respectively. They are co-editors of the forthcoming Whistleblowing Nation: The History of National Security Disclosures and the Cult of State Secrecy.