<html>
<body>
<font size=3><br><br>
<b>Below is an editorial in today's chronicle that attack ADC-SF (the
link on the web version goes to our local website) and others as opposing
US governement to combat Islamic terrorism (see paragraph below pulled
from editorial) . <br><br>
We will be reponding to the email and sending out an action alert.
Meanwhile feel free to send your own letter. This person poses as
progressive person, proceeds to red-bait, race-bate and attack
anyone to the left of Diane Feinstein, so it shouldn't be hard to
respond. So please write a letter.</b> <br><br>
<b>Rayan</b> <b>Elamine - ADC-SF<br><br>
</font><font face="helvetica" size=3><a name="letters"></a>Letters to the
Editor:</b></font> <br><br>
To comment on news stories in the main section of the newspaper or to
opine on views expressed on the Opinion pages, contact Letters to the
Editor. <br><br>
Please limit your letters to 200 or fewer words ... shorter letters have
a better chance of being selected for publication. <br><br>
The editor prefers e-mail. The address is
<a href="mailto:letters@sfchronicle.com">letters@sfchronicle.com</a><br>
<dl>
<dd>(Please paste the text into the e-mail; do not send attachments. Our
virus-detecting software will delete e-mail with attachments.)<br><br>
</dl>Or Fax: (415) 543-7708. <br><br>
Postal-mail is OK, too:<br>
<dl>
<dd>Letters to the Editor<br>
<dd>901 Mission St.<br>
<dd>San Francisco, CA 94103<br><br>
</dl> <br><br>
"Groups like
<a href="http://www.al-awda.org/sanfrancisco/">Al-Awda</a> (The Palestine
Right to Return Coalition) and
<a href="http://www.mecaforpeace.org/index.html">The Middle East
Children's Alliance</a>, while having seemingly nothing to do with this
debate, are in fact organizations whose opposition to Israel's existence
also includes a fair amount of anti-American sentiment. Then there's the
<a href="http://www.adcsf.org/">American Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee</a>, which has opposed every effort of the U.S. government to
combat Islamic terrorism, whether at home or abroad." <br>
</i> <br>
<a href="http://oascentral.sfgate.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.sfgate.com/utils/printable/1871833006/Middle1/default/empty.gif/33666338383166613432643832623230?kw=OPI+POL">
<img src="cid:6.2.1.2.2.20050824132517.02649080@mail.freedomarchives.org.0" width=2 height=2 alt="[]">
</a> <br>
<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/">
<img src="cid:6.2.1.2.2.20050824132517.02649080@mail.freedomarchives.org.1" width=100 height=25 alt="SF Gate">
</a><font size=2>
<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/">www.sfgate.com</a>
<a href="http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/08/24/cstillwell.DTL">
Return to regular view</a> <br>
<br>
</font><font size=3>
<a href="http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2005/08/24/cstillwell.DTL">
OPINION: San Francisco Declares Itself a Military-Free Zone</a> <br>
</b></font><font size=1>- <a href="mailto:cstillwell@sfgate.com">Cinnamon
Stillwell</a><br>
Wednesday, August 24, 2005 <br><br>
</font><font size=3>Everyone knows that San Francisco is a focal point
for anti-war sentiment. Protests, civil disobedience and other acts
designed to show opposition to the war in Iraq are standard fare in these
parts. But now it seems that San Francisco anti-war activists have taken
their opposition to the war in Iraq a step further. <br><br>
Not content with simply protesting the war, they've trained their sights
on all things military. In an apparent effort to rid the city of any
semblance of its military history, various leftist groups, and even some
city officials, are trying to erase the military's presence altogether.
In short, San Francisco has declared itself a military-free zone.
<br><br>
Following on the heels of their success in sometimes violently shutting
down job fairs that include military recruiters on college campuses, the
<a href="http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2005/05/04/cstillwell.DTL">
counterrecruitment</a> movement is now looking to broaden its influence.
Instead of merely protesting the existence of military recruiters on
campuses, the movement wants to ban them altogether. Proposition I, a
measure that will be on the ballot this November, seeks to do just that.
<br><br>
Put together by a group called
<a href="http://www.collegenotcombat.org/">College Not Combat</a>, the
<a href="http://www.collegenotcombat.org/initiative.cgi">initiative</a>
of the same name talks tough on the surface. But it doesn't have any
teeth. The nonbinding measure simply asks that individual schools and
colleges consider banning military recruiters and denying recruiters
access to their student directories, which would violate section 9258 of
the <a href="http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml?src=pb">No Child Left
Behind</a> Act. In the process, these schools could very well have to
forgo federal funds. Given that such institutions are unlikely to want to
get off the federal gravy train, it's doubtful they will choose to take
this action. <br><br>
The initiative also suggests that colleges create scholarship funds and
grants to provide alternatives to the so-called economic draft for
low-income students. Since scholarships and grants already exist for
low-income students, this request is redundant. In general, the
proposition amounts to little more than wishful thinking. <br><br>
Feel-Good Measure</b> <br><br>
So it seems San Franciscans will be asked to vote on yet another in a
series of what I like to call "feel-good measures," much like
<a href="http://www.smartvoter.org/2004/11/02/ca/sf/meas/N/">Proposition
N</a> last year, which demanded the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Since city governments have no jurisdiction over such matters, the
initiative, although it passed, had zero effect. <br><br>
But one can always rely on the majority of San Francisco residents to
support these symbolic measures, and so the College Not Combat initiative
may succeed. If it does, San Francisco voters will have blindly exercised
their anti-military prejudice with little thought for the motivations of
those behind the measure in question. <br><br>
When it comes to the College Not Combat initiative, the
<a href="http://www.collegenotcombat.org/endorsers.cgi">list of
endorsers</a> is a veritable Who's Who of moderate to radical leftist
groups. Beyond the predictable backing of Green Party luminaries
such as Supervisor Chris Daly and former Board of Supervisors president
Matt Gonzalez, endorsers largely consist of anti-war, socialist and
pro-Palestinian organizations. <br><br>
Anti-Israel -- and anti-American</b> <br><br>
Groups like <a href="http://www.al-awda.org/sanfrancisco/">Al-Awda</a>
(The Palestine Right to Return Coalition) and
<a href="http://www.mecaforpeace.org/index.html">The Middle East
Children's Alliance</a>, while having seemingly nothing to do with this
debate, are in fact organizations whose opposition to Israel's existence
also includes a fair amount of anti-American sentiment. Then there's the
<a href="http://www.adcsf.org/">American Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee</a>, which has opposed every effort of the U.S. government to
combat Islamic terrorism, whether at home or abroad. <br><br>
While it's obvious what socialist groups would stand to gain from
undermining the U.S. military and by extension the capitalist system it
defends, one might wonder at the motivations of the other groups backing
the measure. Could it be they have some interest in weakening the U.S.
military? <br><br>
Navy in a Jam</b> <br><br>
Continuing their crusade against the military,
<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/08/09/BAGLJE50C21.DTL">
anti-war groups have asked</a> San Francisco radio station KMEL-FM not to
accept sponsorship from the Navy for its annual Summer Jam concert in
Mountain View. Despite the fact that the Navy has sponsored the concert
for at least 10 of its 19 years, these groups are demanding that it
suddenly stop doing so now. <br><br>
Their rationale is based on the ever-present
<a href="http://www.dod.mil/prhome/poprep2002/chapter2/c2_raceth.htm">
canard</a> that minorities are disproportionately recruited for the
military. They claim that the station is "using hip-hop to promote
the military to young people of color," as if the mere presence of a
Navy booth at the concert offering young people another choice in life is
evidence of a sinister agenda. <br><br>
The fact that all recruits today, whatever their race, are volunteers
seems to mean little to anti-war activists, who insist on portraying
American soldiers either as victims or butchers, depending on the cause
at hand. In this case, it's simply opposition to the war in Iraq. In
<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/08/09/BAGLJE50C21.DTL">
a letter</a> sent to Clear Channel, the company that owns KMEL as well as
the liberal Air America, activists hysterically equated the Navy's
sponsorship of the concert with promoting "the Bush administration's
pro-war agenda." To them, any approach that doesn't automatically
demonize the U.S. military is somehow amoral. <br><br>
Radical Pink</b> <br><br>
This attitude becomes less surprising when its source is considered. At
the helm of the usual leftist suspects is San Francisco's
<a href="http://www.globalexchange.org/">Global Exchange</a> and its
subsidiary, <a href="http://www.codepink4peace.org/index.php">Code Pink
Women for Peace</a>. The antics of Code Pink members, which mostly
consist of members parading around in silly pink costumes, disguise a
political purpose that is far more radical than the surface would
suggest. <br><br>
The group is headed by Medea Benjamin, who, beyond defending various
dictatorial regimes against "U.S. aggression" and famously
disrupting press conferences, is best known for
<a href="http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=16540">
spearheading the drive</a> to deliver
<a href="http://www.spacewar.com/2005/041231172536.nm63arjn.html">
$600,000</a> in cash and supplies to "the other side" in
Fallujah. In other words, her organization may have funded the Islamic
terrorists who had taken over the town, imposed a
<a href="http://slate.msn.com/id/2110762/">Taliban-like state</a> on its
inhabitants,
<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/22/eveningnews/main657134.shtml">
tortured and beheaded</a> hostages (both Iraqi and otherwise) and killed
American soldiers and civilians (remember the lynched contractors?). More
recently, Code Pink has jumped on the Cindy Sheehan bandwagon, along with
the rest of the anti-war movement. <br><br>
With all this experience trying to undercut the U.S. military, it should
come as no surprise that Benjamin and her buddies were involved in the
KMEL protest. But despite their efforts, which included a protest in
front of the radio station, the concert went on as planned, with Navy
sponsorship intact. Chalk one up for the good guys. <br><br>
Sinking the Ship</b> <br><br>
Probably the most blatant example of San Francisco's anti-military bias
was displayed last month by the city's Board of Supervisors when
<a href="http://www2.cbs5.com/localwire/localfsnews/bcn/2005/07/12/n/HeadlineNews/SF-SUPERVISORS/resources_bcn_html">
they voted 3-8</a> against docking the WWII/Korean War-era USS Iowa</i>
as a floating museum at the Port of San Francisco. This was after the
local Congressional delegation secured $3 million to move the Iowa</i>
from Rhode Island to San Francisco because a study had shown the ship
would bring in 500,000 visitors a year. <br><br>
But regardless of the benefits the Iowa</i> could have brought to the
city in increased tourism revenue, the supervisors, in typical knee-jerk
fashion, wouldn't allow it in San Francisco. Instead, the ship may
<a href="http://www.tracypress.com/local/2005-07-23-iowa.php">go to
Stockton</a>, a port city whose officials are obviously much more
sensible than their counterparts in San Francisco. <br><br>
Supervisors who voted against the resolution based their decision on
opposition to the war in Iraq and the military's enforcement of the
federal "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Once again, these
issues are simply being used as excuses to cover up anti-military and
anti-American sympathies across the board. <br><br>
As Supervisor Chris Daly so forthrightly
<a href="http://www2.cbs5.com/localwire/localfsnews/bcn/2005/07/12/n/HeadlineNews/SF-SUPERVISORS/resources_bcn_html">
put it</a>, "I am sad to say I am not proud of the history of the
United States of America since the 1940s." That's an awful lot of
ground to write off, but there you have it. <br><br>
Voice of Moderation</b> <br><br>
Senator Dianne Feinstein, the former mayor of San Francisco and a voice
of moderation when it comes to her hometown, was not at all happy about
the decision. <br><br>
Feinstein
<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/14/BAGLJDNMCA1.DTL">
told The Chronicle</a>: "This isn't the San Francisco that I've
known and loved and grew up in and was born in. I thought that in view of
what's going on and in view of the loss of lives of our men and women, it
was a very petty decision." Her comments demonstrate that showing
respect for the military needn't involve partisanship. <br><br>
But it seems that many among the supervisors' liberal constituency
supported the decision, labeling the USS Iowa</i> nothing more than a
"celebration of war." Such attitudes are an insult to the
blood, sweat and tears of those generations that fought to retain the
freedoms we all enjoy today. <br><br>
Indeed, many of the city's veterans were incensed over the decision and
rightly took it as a slap in the face, not to mention the nonprofit
organization Historic Ships at Memorial Square and the USS Iowa</i>
Veterans Association, both of which tried for years to bring the Iowa</i>
to San Francisco. <br><br>
Angels Away</b> <br><br>
San Francisco's attitude toward the military is evident in other areas as
well. A group that calls itself the
<a href="http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/~lcushing/addpages/PN01.html">Bay
Area Peace Navy</a> has been on a quest to rid the city of Fleet Week and
the spectacular, albeit loud, air shows of the Blue Angels. So far
they've been unsuccessful, but give it time. <br><br>
The relatively
<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2002/11/09/asparks.DTL">
paltry funding</a> for San Francisco's Veterans Day Parade and Memorial
commemoration also speaks volumes about where the city's priorities lie.
When
<a href="http://www.journalism.sfsu.edu/www/pubs/gater/fall95/oct31/01.html">
the Board of Supervisors renamed Army Street</a> "Cesar Chavez
Street" in 1995, it was yet another not-so-subtle jab at the
military. <br><br>
If the city truly wanted to rid itself of military symbols, it would have
to dig up the graves at the San Francisco National Cemetery and raze all
other evidence of the military's presence at the Presidio (including
extensive Buffalo Soldier sites), pave over Crissy Field, bulldoze the
War Memorial complex on Van Ness Avenue and knock down the Lone Sailor
statue at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge. Since San Francisco
has a long and rich military history, there certainly wouldn't be any
shortage of monuments to destroy. <br><br>
Lest it be forgotten, the city's relationship with the military is a
two-way street. After all, many residents would not have survived
<a href="http://www.sfmuseum.org/1906/navops.html">the 1906
earthquake</a> without the Navy's assistance. So let's just say for the
sake of argument that San Francisco succeeds in cutting off all military
ties. Here's what could happen: <br><br>
-- The next time San Francisco finds itself in need of help from the
Coast Guard or the National Guard, the city would be on iits own.
<br><br>
-- Were a terrorist attack -- or an earthquake or some other natural
disaster -- to occur in San Francisco, the federal governnment would just
ignore all requests for assistance. <br><br>
-- Should a foreign nation decide to invade and conquer the vulnerable
coastal city, it would meet with little resistance, especially
considering the pacifist attitude of many of its residents. <br><br>
-- All federal funds would be cut off immediately. <br><br>
Of course, none of this is going to happen, but one can dream. <br><br>
Cinnamon Stillwell is a Bay Area writer. She can be reached at
<a href="mailto:cinnamonstillwell@yahoo.com">
cinnamonstillwell@yahoo.com</a></i> <br><br>
<br>
URL:
<a href="http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2005/08/24/cstillwell.DTL" eudora="autourl">
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2005/08/24/cstillwell.DTL</a>
<br><br>
<br>
</font><tt>-------------------------------------------<br>
American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee<br>
San Francisco Bay Area Chapter<br>
522 Valencia Blvd San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 861-7444 adcsf@hotmail.com<br>
-------------------------------------------<br><br>
<br><br>
</tt><hr>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
</font><font size=3>
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.freedomarchives.org</a></font></body>
</html>