So, what's your Southern strategy?
Cf.
Chris Kromm, "The South at War," CounterPunch, June 20, 2002, <http://www.counterpunch.org/kromm0620.html>
Jordan Green and Chris Kromm, "Missiles & Magnolias: The South at War," <http://www.southernstudies.org/reports/sevol3012Missiles.pdf>
***** The South At War!
More than any other region of the country, the South is most tied to, and most impacted by, the "war on terror," the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, and U.S. military ventures abroad. For example:
* Who is in the Army? The South represents only a third of the nation's population, but supplies 42% of the country's enlisted soldiers - and 56% of troops in the continental U.S. are stationed in the South. * Pro-War Politicians: Southern politicians are Congress's biggest hawks, tilting the foreign policy of the country away from peace and diplomacy. For example, 62% of Southern senators scored in the bottom fifth of the most recent legislative scorecard for Peace Action. * Dependency on Military Dollars: The South is the most dependent region in the country on weapons production. In 2001, anchored by military industry boom centers in Virginia, Texas and Florida 43% of U.S. arms contracts went to Southern companies. * Who Suffers? Southern arms are used against civilian populations across the world. For example, the South produced 66% of the armaments sold to Israel through the Foreign Military Sales program (from 1995 to 2001), thus directly arming the 35-yr-Israeli military occupation of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), Gaza, and the Golan Heights. * What Kind of Jobs? Southern arms companies have a checkered record when it comes to economic and racial justice. Lockheed Martin, the leading weapons manufacturer, has been targeted with class-action lawsuits from African-American workers charging a "hostile" work environment, and the company's machinists were forced to go on strike over poor job security and benefits. * Impact on Community: Military bases in the South have increased by 83% since 1996 (followed by the West with gains of 62%). These bases uproot local populations, cause economic displacement, and have often posed environmental risks to community residents yet claim exemptions from environmental rules.
<http://www.southernstudies.org/eejp.asp> *****
Gary Ashwill, "Southern Chicken Hawks," <http://www.southernstudies.org/reports/chickenhawks.htm>.
"Union Membership Rates by State, 2000 Annual Average": <http://img.infoplease.com/images/labormap.gif>. "Table 5. Union Affiliation of Employed Wage and Salary Workers by State" (2001-2002): <http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.t05.htm>. "Union Members in 2002": <ftp://146.142.4.23/pub/news.release/union2.txt>. -- Yoshie
* Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://solidarity.igc.org/>
