[Ppnews] Leonards statement before transfer
Political Prisoner News
ppnews at freedomarchives.org
Tue Jan 13 13:31:38 EST 2009
X-Replyto: contact at whoisleonardpeltier.info
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:16:02 -0800 (PST)
Dictated by phone January 12, 2009
Greetings my relatives, friends and/or captors
To my relatives and friends, I want to especially
thank you for your generosity in this season of
giving they call Christmas. And I want you to
know Im mindful of the reason for the season as
they say, for Jesus himself was a political
prisoner. He stood up against the warmongers the
exploiters of his people and he was imprisoned
and hung out to dry, likewise so many other
people who have stood up against those who would
exploit the lives and resources of people around
the world. I dont claim to be of any
significance on their level, I am but one man of
many who have stood up against exploiters that
would use force to inflict their value system upon a weaker people.
I am in the process right now of being
transferred; I had hoped to be transferred to a
facility on the Turtle Mountain Reservation while
I dealt with other legal issues regarding my
imprisonment. However my captors have once again
triumphed in their continuing efforts to break
me. They have sent me even farther away from my
traditional homeland. I hear them and others
continually talk about justice. One of the
bureaucrats in North Dakota when becoming aware
of my efforts to be transferred to Turtle
Mountain spoke up and said he believed justice is
being served in my continued imprisonment. I
sincerely hope good people will take note of this
person, Senator Byron Dorgan, on the Senate
Committee for Indian Affairs. It is quite
obvious that he has no knowledge of true Indian
History, no knowledge of my case, and is only a
lackey for those who wish to keep us always subject to their
version of what justice is. They have at times
called me a thug and a cold blooded murderer, but
I know historically they called Geronimo a cold
blooded murderer and savage, they called Crazy
Horse a cold blooded murderer and savage, they
called Captain Jack of the Modocs a cold blooded
murderer and savage, they called Black Hawk of
the Sauk a cold blooded murderer and savage, they
called Tecumseh a cold blooded murderer and
savage, they called Sitting Bull a cold blooded
murderer and savage and the list goes on and on.
The one thing all these men have in common is
they were all imprisoned or killed by this
government; they were all patriots in their own
land, trying to stop the illegal immoral taking
of their peoples land and resources. They
didnt call the men who murdered our people at
Wounded Knee thugs and savages, they didnt call
the snipers who shot Frank Clearwater at Wounded
Knee in 73 a murderer, they didnt call the ones
who shot Buddy Lamont a cold blooded murderer,
they didnt call the ones who shot Joe Stuntz a
cold blooded murderer, they didnt call the
sniper who shot that young woman and baby in 1992
at Ruby Ridge Idaho in a cold blooded murder,
they didnt call the ones who burned the men,
women and children to death at Waco, Texas in
1993 in cold blooded murderers. I assume cold
blooded means you have no sense of right or wrong
or something of that nature when you take a
life. And if that is so, then this country is
full of cold blooded murderers and thugs because
by proxy they have killed thousands of innocent
men women and children in Iraq and most recently
in Afghanistan, Ive seen them on TV. Ive seen
the pictures of childrens bodies piled on top of
each other. And right now the US funds Israels
war machine as they kill hundreds of innocent men, women and children.
Einstein once said, All things are relative and
For every action there is a reaction. In the
traditional way our people teach the same. In
all the major religions around the world it is
taught the same way before Einstein ever drew a
breath. Every person in America who allows this
injustice to continue without voicing any
opposition is a party to murder on some
level. Someone once said and it is a truism,
All that is needed for evil to prevail is good
men to say nothing. And if Einstein is correct
and Jesus is correct then you reap what you sow,
and Buddha is correct who said there are karmic
laws that must repay or be repaid for whatever
you do then this nation had better start paying
attention. It is financially at this point
bankrupt. It is spiritually and morally bankrupt.
Im sure this letter wont buy me any favored
treatment. Actually I dont know that anything
ever has. They had a plot to kill me once that
didnt work. They have denied me medical
treatment that I need. I have arthritis in my
knees. I have a semi dysfunctional jaw from lack
of medical treatment. I have 80% loss of vision
in one eye. And I have other internal organ
infirmities that need medical treatment. But
though I have trouble walking I will stand and
voice my objection to the cold blooded
mistreatment of indigenous people in this land
and others. I will speak out always against the
cold blooded atrocities that are caused directly
by military weapons and/or political policies
that cause people to take their own lives as in
my country and other countries around the
world. And though my vision may be failing me
somewhat I can still read the writing on the wall.
Though this country is in great financial peril
money - is not the cure. There are some writings
today that this country will be destroyed by
fire, well let me tell you, or should I say,
reiterate the words of my elders and others; the
fires are burning now, right now today all over
the world the fires are burning. There will be
natural devastation upon devastation coming to
this country that has used the land and resources
of my people to pollute and destroy the natural
order of life. You reap what you sow. And as my
people say everything that goes around comes
around. As Einstein said, For every action there is a reaction.
I may live a hundred years or I may die tomorrow;
but I will always have concern and sorrow for
those innocent people that lose their lives. It
is such a great tragedy that even some of those
who pull the triggers and attack others have been
convinced they are doing the right thing for some
bureaucrat with little or no understanding of
life that espouses some rhetoric about justice being served.
If I sound angry or hurt or disappointed or a
multitude of other emotions you would probably be
correct. I remember once upon a time, in my
naïve belief that sooner or later I would be free
and justice would be served. In my case after 33
years of illegal imprisonment justice will never
be served, it will be up to the Creator to bring
about a reaction that may in some future time
balance the scales. But for me and the others
like me, whether they are among other prisoners
in the US prison system or dead in the streets of
Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza Strip or South America or
some reservation road or some ghetto street,
justice is not being served at this time.
If there is anything further I could say that
would affect you in some way it would be to
encourage you to take a few minutes out of your
life and quietly sit and reflect and maybe just
maybe you can hear the mothers crying for their
lost children and the men crying for their lost
wives and daughters and the grandfathers crying
for their lost sons and I could say more but
perhaps you may have grown tired of my
commentary. Thank you for your time, thank you
for reading this, and dont let evil triumph. Say something.
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse and all the others
who gave their lives that future generations
might enjoy some time together on this beautiful mother earth,
Mitakuye Oyasin (All My Relations)
Leonard Peltier
PS. I also want to take this opportunity to
whole heartedly thank all those who wrote the
prison on my behalf recently seeking my transfer
to Turtle Mountain facility in North Dakota. Thank you.
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863-9977
www.Freedomarchives.org
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