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from Joseph Gerson, American Friends Service Committee
 
     I am writing to urge you to see and to promote the new film, “Command and Control” which will be released across the country in the coming weeks. The 90-minute documentary thriller focuses on the 1980 nuclear armed Titan II missile accident in Damascus, Arkansas, which threatened death and destruction across much of the Midwest.  With references to other nuclear weapons accidents, the film provides a wakeup call to the little discussed mortal dangers that U.S. nuclear accidents pose to the U.S. (and other) people.

film trailer

 The film was co-produced and co-written by Eric Schlosser, author of the book Command and Control and Robert Kenner, who has two Academy Award nominations and two Emmys under his belt. 

     Watching the film, I was reminded of Schlosser’s testimonies at the Nayarit and Vienna International Conferences on the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons, which left me and others profoundly shaken.  I also found myself thinking that one of the best things a number of us may have done, lo these many years ago, may have been our roles in preventing Boston, New York and San Francisco harbors from being transformed into nuclear weapons bases.

       While the promotional material that follows here has been developed for a mass audience, I found the interviews with those responsible for the 1980 accident  and those who sacrificed their lives in the futile effort to prevent it uterrly compelling. And, if nothing else in the film sobers you, the Pauline conversions of former Sandia Lab officials, and former Secretary of Defense Brown’s testimony that “accidents were not unusual in the defense department…there must have been several every day” certainly will. Not that Brown was terribly concerned!

   A schedule of the film showings and the press kit material with url links follows below, and the film is slated to be shown on PBS, though we don’t have those dates yet.

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Can we abolish all nuclear weapons?

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     In addition to encouraging people to see the film, ticket lines will be great places for leafletting. And, when the film is shown on PBS, we can organize house parties to views and discuss the film and to launch activities, from pressing to end spending for the new generation of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems, to getting signatures on the Hibakusha petition, and planning steps to win Don’t Bank on the Bomb resolutions.

   One final note:  The film does not explicitly advocate nuclear weapons abolition. That said, given Schlosser’s closing remarks that every machine that has ever been made breaks down, working for abolition is the logical conclusion that almost everyone should take from the film.

     See the film, and remember Joe Hill’s final words: “Don’t mourn. Organize!”
 
Press Kit:

Photos, synopsis and trailer are available for download here. 

Screenings:

Find an updates list of theatrical, festival and impact screenings here. 
Cities include: New York, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, San Diego

 
Synopsis:

A chilling nightmare plays out at a Titan II missile complex in Arkansas in September, 1980. A worker accidentally drops a socket, puncturing the fuel tank of an intercontinental ballistic missile carrying the most powerful nuclear warhead in our arsenal, an incident which ignites a series of feverish efforts to avoid a deadly disaster. Directed by Robert Kenner (FOOD, INC.) and based on the critically acclaimed book by Eric Schlosser (FAST FOOD NATION), COMMAND AND CONTROL is a minute-by-minute account of this long-hidden story. Putting a camera where there was no camera that night, Kenner brings this nonfiction thriller to life with stunning original footage shot in a decommissioned Titan II missile silo. Eyewitness accounts — from the man who dropped the socket, to the man who designed the warhead, to the Secretary of Defense— chronicle nine hours of terror that prevented an explosion 600 times more powerful than Hiroshima.
 

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article and video from Democracy Now

Peace activist Kathy Kelly is about to begin a three-month prison sentence for protesting the U.S. drone war at a military base in Missouri earlier this year. Kelly, along with another activist, was arrested after offering bread and an indictment against drone warfare. Kelly is the co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, a campaign to end U.S. military and economic warfare.

Video of interview with Kathy Kelly

TRANSCRIPT – This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Kathy Kelly, in addition to U.S. troops staying, 11,000 troops staying, and participating not only in Operation Resolute Support, but fighting themselves directly, they’ll be supported by bombers, drones. You participated in a drone strike, and you’re headed home to Chicago, then to prison. Talk about this drone strike and why you chose to get arrested.

KATHY KELLY: Well, I think it’s a good time to be very uncompromising with regard to the United States’ wars. These wars are murderous. The wars are killing civilians, as has been happening in the United States’ wars since World War II. Now 90 percent of the people killed in wars are civilians. And this is true certainly with the drone strikes. The Reprieve organization has said that for every one person who is selected as a target for assassination, 28 civilians are killed. And even just three nights ago, there was another targeted assassination in which they hit two homes in the Logar province, and six people were wounded, four people were killed, all of them civilians.

And so, I crossed a line at Whiteman Air Force Base. A squadron operates weaponized drones over Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been an epicenter of drone warfare. And a good symbol for people in Afghanistan is breaking bread. I carried a loaf of bread and a letter, wanting to talk to the commandant. We thought it was important to know how many people were killed by Whiteman Air Force Base on that day.

AMY GOODMAN: Where is Whiteman?

KATHY KELLY: That’s in Knob Noster, Missouri.

AMY GOODMAN: And what’s its relationship with Afghanistan?

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Drones (unmanned bombers), Should they be outlawed?

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KATHY KELLY: Well, the weaponized drones are flown—once they’re airborne, they’re operated entirely by people in United States Air National Guard bases and air bases. And so, Whiteman Air Force Base won’t disclose, neither will the CIA disclose, information about the results of these killings, but this is what people in the United States need to know. We have a First Amendment right to seek redress of grievance. And having been in Afghanistan, living with young people who are too frightened to go back to visit their own relatives, who see for themselves a future that could be a prolonged, exacerbated warfare, there is a grievance, and we wanted to bring that to the commandant at that particular base.

AMY GOODMAN: I said you participated in a strike; I meant to say in a drone protest. So, exactly what was the action you engaged in?

KATHY KELLY: Well, I think I stepped one or two steps over a line. And—

AMY GOODMAN: Holding a loaf of bread and an indictment?

KATHY KELLY: And so the military prosecutor said, “Your Honor, Ms. Kelly is in grave need, great need, of rehabilitation.” But I think it’s a—this is an important time to connect these oppressive issues. You know, while we’re spending $1 trillion on warfare in Afghanistan and looking at another $120 billion that will be spent—the Pentagon wants $57 billion for this year alone—we’re squandering needed resources. We’re undermining the possibility of solving extremely serious problems that we’re moving into.

AMY GOODMAN: How long will you be going to prison for?

KATHY KELLY: Three months.

AMY GOODMAN: Where?

KATHY KELLY: Well, I don’t know yet. The Bureau of Prisons will tell me where I’m to be put, probably at the end of January.

AMY GOODMAN: How many times have you gone to prison for protesting war?

KATHY KELLY: Well, this will be my third time in a federal—well, no, fourth time in a federal prison. And I’ve been jailed in various county jails and other kinds of lockups more times than I can count.

AMY GOODMAN: Kathy Kelly, I want to thank you very much for being with us—

KATHY KELLY: Thank you, Amy.

AMY GOODMAN: —co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, a campaign to end U.S. military and economic warfare, just returned from Kabul, Afghanistan. We’ll link your recent piece, “Obama Extends War in Afghanistan: The implications for U.S. democracy aren’t reassuring.” And, Matt Aikins, please stay with us. I want to talk about your latest piece looking at Afghanistan; the piece is “Afghanistan: The Making of a Narco State.” Stay with us.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from the Nobel Womens Initiative

In July we witnessed several horrible incidents of gun violence in the United States. These tragedies draw our attention to the systemic problems of racism and poverty as factors that play a role in determining who experiences the brunt of this violence. Women on the front lines are taking action to heal communities impacted by this violence and prevent future gun deaths. Here are just 5 of the many incredible initiatives women in the United States are leading to reduce gun violence.

Moms Demand Action
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1. Mothers Against Senseless Killings (MASK)

Mothers Against Senseless Killings was started by a group of African American mothers in Chicago who wanted to create a community free of gun violence claiming young lives in their community. Taking matters into their own hands, the group started a program called Moms on Patrol. This project emphasizes the power of community members, and mothers in particular, as agents of social change. MASK also started the Abel Project to plant trees in memory of community members who have been killed by gun violence. These events help the communities grieve and encourage a sense of unity and responsibility for each other.

2. Moms Demand Action

In response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, Stay-at-home mom Shannon Watts founded Moms Demand Action. Since then, Moms Demand Action has become a a nation-wide grassroots organization that advocates for change at the local, state and national level to end the epidemic of gun violence in the United States. Their campaigns include calling for the prohibition of firearms in public spaces such as grocery stores and cafes; postcard campaigns to elected officials on holidays such as Valentine’s and Mother’s Day; and the Mother’s Dream Quilt Project, which creates quilts symbolizing the human toll of gun violence.

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3. INCITE!

INCITE! is a national activist organization built by feminist women, gender non-conforming and trans people of colour to address violence against their community members. The group organizes direct action, critical dialogue and grassroots activities. Their projects include producing a radio show, organizing rallies on street harassment, training women of colour on self-defence and building and running a clinic, among other things. INCITE! Has also developed a toolkit to address gun violence as it manifests within their community—particularly against women and trans people of colour.

4. The Wear Orange Movement

In response to the shooting and death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, a group of her friends began wearing orange to remember her life. They chose orange because they said it’s what hunters wear to protect themselves and others from being shot. The Wear Orange Movement sparked by this group of girls in her memory grew and is now nation-wide. National Gun Violence Awareness Day is on June 2nd, and people across the country wear orange, share their stories and protest to demand change.

5. Women Against Gun Violence

Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique and Los Angeles Police Commissioner Ann Reiss Lane co-coordinated a conference in 1993 that sought to articulate gun violence as a woman’s issues and a public health concern. Out of this conference, Women Against Gun Violence was born. Their projects include a speaker’s bureau of adults and youth who have lost a loved one to gun violence or have survived gun violence themselves, gun violence prevention workshops and gun lock distribution, and developing educational materials for parents and children in elementary schools.

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)