David Swanson

David Swanson

David Swanson is the Executive Director of World Beyond War. He served as press secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign.

About

David Swanson is the Washington Director of Democrats.com, co-founder of the After Downing Street Coalition and creator of Meet with Cindy.org. He serves on the steering committee of the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice and on a working group of United for Peace and Justice. He has worked as a newspaper reporter, and as Press Secretary for the Dennis Kucinich 2004 campaign, Media Coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as Communications Coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. He is a member of and has served on the Executive Council of the Washington/Baltimore Newspaper Guild.

David Swanson is the author of "War Is A Lie" and "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union." He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org and works for the online activist organization RootsAction.

Education

Swanson obtained a Master's degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia in 1997.

Legitimate Targets Guest

Jackson Hinkle with David Swanson

Legitimate Targets : Jackson Hinkle with David Swanson June 18 2025

David Swanson was a guest on Jackson Hinkle's Legitimate Targets.

"🚨🇺🇸🇮🇷 BREAKING: WAR ON IRAN IS THE DUMBEST & DEADLIEST IDEA!

Today on Legitimate Targets, Jackson Hinkle speaks with World Beyond War’s David Swanson (@davidcnswanson) about the prospects of a US WAR ON IRAN, UKRAINIAN TERRORISM & Trump’s FAILURE to “END THE WARS.”

In this episode of Legitimate Targets, host Jackson Hinkle discusses global conflicts with David Swanson, executive director of World Beyond War, focusing on the threat of war with Iran and the Ukraine crisis. Swanson states a war on Iran is "possibly the stupidest of all the ideas for wars" and could lead to a "global nuclear apocalypse" due to "virtually the same lies trotted out again" about nuclear threats. He claims Donald Trump "can whip up support for any war" and that "propaganda can be very very powerful" in swaying the US public. Hinkle notes Kamla is "so deeply unpopular" that a war under her would face opposition, unlike Donald Trump, who could rally his base for a war, even against Russia, as it’s a "bipartisan dream." They address US support for Israel’s actions in Gaza, called a "genocide," and the lack of congressional push for peace.

Full Transcript

Welcome back to Legitimate Targets. I hope you're all having a great day. If you're living in Iran or Israel or any of the regions that may be impacted by a full-scale regional war, maybe you're not having such a great day, but we'll have to wait and see how things evolve because we are living in a critical time with leaders who really do not value peace. There's no money in peace, as they say, at least not as much as there is in war. Well, joining me today to discuss everything that's going on, from NATO escalation to escalation in the Middle East, is David Swanson. He is an American anti-war activist, an author, and executive director of World Beyond War. He's known for his books and campaigns promoting peace in a world that is filled with war. So, Mr. Swanson, thank you so much for joining me today. How you doing?

David Swanson: Could be better, I guess, in terms of the state of the world. How are you?

Jackson Hinkle: I feel the same exact way. It's watching every minute, watching it unfold. It seems like we're really headed in the wrong direction. But what is your take on what has really unfolded over the past 24, 48 hours related to this potential full-scale regional war over Iran?

David Swanson: Yeah, it's good to see you. First of all, I think we maybe spoke at an event together at the Lincoln Memorial once where Trump tanks are going to come rumbling by pretty soon. I think the threat of a war on Iran is enormous. It is vastly more dangerous than numerous wars underway right now. I mean, the only one that rivals it for potential to escalate into global nuclear apocalypse is the war in Ukraine. And the war on Iran is possibly the stupidest of all the ideas for wars because it's been pushed on the US public as desperately, urgently needed. We immediately must have a war on Iran, or we're all going to die, over and over again for decades and been stopped, been stopped by public pressure, been stopped by Congress of all absurdities, been stopped by the spies and saboteurs in over a dozen so-called agencies that make up the so-called intelligence community that have said, you know, and it's virtually the same lies trotted out again now. It's Heg Seth saying, "Well, Iran doesn't have nuclear weapons, but they could in theory someday have something that looks like a nuclear weapon." Like Hollywood studios have something that looks like a nuclear weapon, Mr. Hexath. Like, what? Why is this a reason to risk global war, which, you know, and even if it doesn't escalate to global war, it's incredibly destructive to the environment of the planet, to the economies of the planet, to relations across western Asia. It's incredibly, incredibly dangerous.

Jackson Hinkle: I think the most dangerous part, and this is something that I thought about before Trump got elected, when he was running against Kamla, was that Kamla is so deeply unpopular that if she had eked out a victory in the election and tried to start a war against Iran, which of course is a bipartisan dream that they all have, a lot of people would have been opposed to it, and there would have been a great deal of public pressure. But with Trump, he's the type of guy that can whip up support for any war. If he decided tomorrow that we have to go full scale against Russia, I think he could whip up a good chunk of his base for that due to his popularity, and people view him for some reason as more trustworthy than other politicians. But if we do get entangled, is such a bad word, but if we do launch this war on Iran, I mean, could you see a widespread portion of the American public getting on board with this?

David Swanson: I really doubt it. The polling right now shows the US public dramatically against it, but propaganda can be very, very powerful, and the government still controls huge communications resources. And even with much of the so-called mainstream media in the United States being anti-Trump, they're anti-Trump except for war. They're pseudo-progressive except for Palestine and so forth. So I think the one thing the US public may resist is US troops in Los Angeles. Even the governor of California—these US troops should be destroying and killing somewhere else. That's their proper function, and I honor them for it, right? So you're going to have on Saturday the Democrats all holding rallies against a Trump military parade in Washington in almost every town across the United States except Washington because they don't want to actually oppose a military parade. They want to love the military and the Army's birthday and the flag more than Trump and better than Trump. And so this is the Democratic opposition. Their autopsy on Kamala losing does not mention Gaza, does not mention that she could have said the words "no more weapons to Israel" and be sitting in the White House on the throne right now. It's all about their outreach and their strategy and their economic policy and their criticisms and rhetoric. They just won't face up to the fact that people are looking for someone who's for peace. People were so desperate for someone who would be for peace that a lot of people tried to believe that was Trump.

Jackson Hinkle: You mentioned Palestine. What do you think it says about the leadership in the United States that it's still so gung-ho for Israel and this genocide, whereas in Europe, you have obviously a very deranged, sycophantic pro-war crowd of leaders, but even when it comes to Gaza, they're saying enough, you know, this is crazy. They started sanctioning Smootri and Gavir. They canceled free trade negotiations with Israel. They are hosting now, you know, two-state solution conference, which is not great, but you know, these are all things that are being done that we don't get anywhere near in the United States. What do you think about that?

David Swanson: Well, I think it's very, very far from enough, right? My friends are sailing boats out of Europe, from Malta and Sicily, and they're being attacked in European waters by Israeli drones, and Europe is fine with it. They're on a UK ship being boarded by Israeli troops, and they're fine with it. There are members of parliament in the UK now switching 180 and opposing the genocide but supporting continuing to send the weapons. France is sending the weapons. Germany is sending the weapons. As long as they're sending the weapons, the rhetoric does very little for me. I'm glad that there are more voices in European parliaments against war, but next week, week after next, they're all going to line up in the HEG, appropriately enough near some cells that some of them belong in, and swear their allegiance to NATO and promise 5% of their economies, no matter how rich those economies get, to weapons. You have this unelected hack leader of NATO going around to each European capital and ordering the prime minister or the president to take money out of healthcare, out of retirement, out of all the good things that Europe has done better than the United States and put it into weapons. That's not good for Palestine or anywhere else. Weapons get used. Weapons create wars. And so the notion that Europe is generally for peace, yeah, I'm not seeing it. I mean, even Germany, given its history, the US is pushing for hypermilitarization, massive militarization, put everything into weapons and military preparedness. You know, and if we blow up more of your pipelines, buy more of our expensive fuels. I mean, this is not yet the path to peace. Today, as we speak, there's going to be another vote in the UN General Assembly to pretend that they're trying to get around the US veto in the Security Council on Palestine, but it's going to be a vote on another resolution that does nothing, that has nothing substantive in it, that doesn't remove Israel from the UN, doesn't sanction Israel, doesn't embargo weapons to Israel, doesn't put in place any motions to, you know, and there's no notion in the UN for big countries like US, Russia, China to use international law because they're all against it themselves. They're all against the ICC and the ICJ. You know that the United States and Russia, the places where we are, ought to be the leaders in the world on these things. Instead, they're the leading holdouts and leading opponents of international law. And so I think more is desperately needed.

Jackson Hinkle: Going back to Iran, one thing that's been brought up, although I don't know how I feel about it, is some people are saying, "Well, this is all a big game. It's a threat." Israel can't do these deep strikes on Iranian nuclear sites without US support, and the US doesn't want that smoke. Trump didn't want it when he was in his first administration. He backed out, you know, after he assassinated Solommani of course in horrific fashion. But now we're seeing all the same pressures that are put on Iran each and every time that these negotiations begin to heat up and get close to an end. Now these pressures are heating up quite a bit on Iran, but do you think that it is possible that we could see the US go full in and attack Iran, or do you think this is just a theater and threats with the aim of getting a negotiated settlement?

David Swanson: I think it's entirely possible, and I think it's outrageous that it's in the hands of a single individual, which the public of the United States in theory had some say over because they got to choose between him and some other ridiculously awful individual. These were the two choices, and you've put these imperial powers in the hands of that one person, and because you had the choice of making it some other absurdly awful person, it's supposed to be representative of the public will. This is outrageous. We should never be in this situation of having to speculate, you know, based on who talks to Trump that morning or what he has for breakfast whether the people of Iran are bombed. And why are the people of Iran being sanctioned right now, impoverished right now, shut out from the world's banking system and corporations and sources of products and industry and materials? Because supposedly these sanctions are going to do the opposite of what sanctions have always done, right? Cuba, North Korea, they've been sanctioning these places for generations, supposedly for the illegal purpose of overthrowing the governments, right? And it always accomplishes the illegal purpose of collective punishment of the people and strengthens the governments. Iran would have a better government for its people and for peace in the world if Biden had not maintained Trump's Iran policies, if the pressure, as they call it, wasn't on, if Chuck Schumer didn't come out of his shell to demand that Trump be more belligerent toward Iran, right? Remember when Chuck Schumer went along with the budget bill for billionaires, and everybody threw a fit and said, "Stand up to Trump. We didn't mean we wanted a new war. This was not what we wanted from Senator Schumer, right? We wanted legislation that didn't give all our money to oligarchs. We didn't want a way to give all our money to Lockheed Martin. This is not what people wanted from him.

Jackson Hinkle: You brought up the point of it really depends on who speaks to Trump on any given morning, what his talking points will be, what his agenda will be. What do you think about people like Tulsi Gabbard, who has some horrible ideas on Gaza but on Iran she's been pretty good? You have JD Vance, who's reportedly been outspoken within the Oval Office against war with Iran, and Donald Trump Jr. also, who's been opposed to the idea. The Jerusalem Post put out an article last week saying how worried they were about these three figures in the Trump administration with regard to impeding war plans over Iran. What sort of say do you think they might have, and do you think they have any influence whatsoever on this administration, or do you think it's completely blackmailed and going to be cucked into starting a major war that's going to have devastating consequences?

David Swanson: I think it's very sad how limited influence the public as a whole has and again that we have to speculate on what's going to shape the mind of someone who clearly has very little idea what he's thinking himself. But I think there's definitely a chance that Tulsi Gabbard and JD Vance and the rest of these people, that whoever talks to Trump has some influence. I mean, if they can talk to him through Fox News, that seems to be the very best way. If, you know, face-to-face isn't really real for Trump, right? But if he's looking at his television in his White House and somebody on Fox News, even if they're in the next room, is telling him through Fox News, that seems to be the way. But these people who I disagree with on 500 other things, when I agree with them on Iran, you and I probably disagree on 500 things if we thought enough, but with people who agree with me on Iran, I want them talking to Trump.

Jackson Hinkle: Yeah, I hope that they can have some breakthrough. It's worked in the past, but it seems like we're at a different point right now. Hypothetically, if there is a war with Iran and it's a full-scale thing and they go after the nuclear sites, do you think that Israel can come out of this? Obviously, they're not going to come out of this unscathed, but I mean alive. That's a serious risk for them at this point. It seems like Netanyahu is playing a dangerous game.

David Swanson: Yeah, well, when we start talking about nuclear sites, I think we should be clear that we mean nuclear energy sites, although that's deeply connected to nuclear weaponry. We haven't been shown any evidence of nuclear weaponry sites, just to be clear. But it's an incredible danger to the entire region, including Israel, including Palestine, and including all kinds of US troops at US bases. And when the proper kind of people start to die, when two or three of the people you're supposed to care about start to die, look at all the news today is overwhelmingly about a plane crash where fewer people died than die every day in Gaza, and it will be the big story for the coming days. When that happens, that's the news. So it's not just that Israel will be immediately in a full-scale war with Iran, but the United States will too, and then there's a question of the other big powers in the world joining in. That's why it's just incredibly dangerous. And of course, Iran, as far as we know, doesn't have nuclear weapons, but Israel does. And the reason we've never been able to ban nuclear weapons from that region is because Israel has them. And of course, Pakistan and India have them, and this is just why should we be playing with all life on Earth. We're slowly destroying it. What's our hurry? Why do we have to risk destroying it by next week?

Jackson Hinkle: It's a good point. It's really crazy to think about the point you just brought up that more people die in Gaza every day than died on that tragic, very tragic plane crash today, but you know, that just goes to show. Think about how much media attention, not just for 24 hours but for the full week, that's going to get, and then Gaza is just, it's just no one covers it. It's crazy. Shifting gears to another conflict that you mentioned that has also a high probability, already has taken many, over a million lives, and could take many, many more, Russia and Ukraine. What do you think is the holdup here? Because again, Trump has gone back and forth. President has said that Zalinsky is illegitimate one day, then the next say he's saying that Putin is being too unkind to the legitimate leader of Ukraine. What do you think is the holdup with Trump, someone who said he wanted to end this so quickly?

David Swanson: Well, he wanted to end it, and he promised to have a plan to end it, and he was going to end it in one day prior to his inauguration, but he never showed us that plan, right? I mean, we're still waiting to see Nixon's secret plan to end the war in Vietnam. It was a campaign speech. It wasn't a plan. There was never any plan, right? And Trump doesn't have the capability of coming up with a plan because he doesn't look at the world in a complex enough way. If someone were to care about a lasting peace in Ukraine or to care about the people who live in Ukraine, they would be looking at ways to give the people in the different regions of Ukraine, including the eastern regions and including Crimea, the right to vote on their own future with oversight by all interested parties. This has never been in the interests of the United States or Russia, both of which treat Ukraine as a piece in a puzzle and want to control it or as much of it as possible. And so, you know, Trump wants to do a deal with Putin where he gets a certain chunk of Ukraine, and Putin gets a certain other chunk. This is unacceptable even to the lousy government in Kiev, which wants Ukraine for Ukraine. And so, I mean, until, and it's very, very hard because everybody's had family members killed, and everybody hates each other now, and populations have been moved in and out of these regions so that a vote now on what it should do would not be the same as a vote a couple years ago. It's very, very complicated, but you can have a plan like plans that have been near getting approved in recent months where you put some of the bitterest decisions off for some months or years, and you get a ceasefire, and you get disarmament, and you get no NATO in Ukraine's future, and you get no Russian military in Ukraine, and you put some of the decisions about exactly what happens in each region off. But with nobody in the Ukrainian, Russian, or US governments having the slightest interest in democracy other than as a campaign slogan, it's going to be hard to get to a lasting peace with some hope of people being content with it in every part of Ukraine. That's just, you know, and it's so sad and it's so tragic because either the US or Russia for far less than it has spent on the war in Ukraine could have made Ukraine a paradise and could have made itself the most beloved country to Ukraine by giving Ukraine everything it could possibly desire, not in bombs but in clean energy and infrastructure and agriculture and trade. And it's just not in the cards. It's not, as you said at the start of this show, it's not where certain people make their money.

Jackson Hinkle: Given that there's so many, and you mentioned this with regard to Iran, there's so many Americans that value peace, not just in Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, so on and so forth, but with Russia and Ukraine and with even China over Taiwan, why do you think it is, and maybe the question is a bit more simple for the Middle East because there's a very strong lobby in the United States, but why do you think it is that there are literally no Congress people who are actively having common sense and saying we need to have peace? Why is everyone so gung-ho for war with the largest powers on the face of the earth? Why do you think it is? This seems like a very, when you look back in the history too, this is a very unique dilemma that we are facing in the country right now, where we have such high levels of homelessness, of health issues amongst our public, of infrastructure crumbling, and still no one is ringing the alarm bell.

David Swanson: And the Trump gang is rapidly trying to defund and dismantle what's left of all those good and useful things. I think there's probably not a time in US history when you've had the political establishment or any significant fraction of it oppose multiple wars at the same time, right? They always have to, when they are willing to oppose any war, they have to strongly support all the other ones, right? So when someone like Obama was willing to pretend he was opposed to the war in Iraq, he had to be just gung-ho for the war in Afghanistan of all absurdities, right? If there had never been a war in Iraq, Afghanistan wouldn't have become the good war. If there hadn't been a war in Vietnam, World War II wouldn't have become the good war. You have to have a good war to support to establish your credibility as a mass murder enthusiast if you oppose some other war. And so with all the pressure to oppose the war on Gaza, and a chunk of Congress being moved to act as if it opposes the war on Gaza and take some baby steps in that direction, it's even harder to get them to oppose the war in Ukraine. And the propaganda on that has been the strongest I've ever seen in my life. I mean, it's built on decades of demonization of Russia, the Soviet Union, Russia, but then Russiagate from 2016 forward and then the intense propaganda, so effective from the moment of the Russian invasion, the Russian escalation of this war that everyone thinks actually began in that instant. So powerful, so effective. I mean, showing the victims of war for once, I mean, only one side and only one particular war, but this is what ought to be done with all sides of all wars. We ought to see the victims because it's so powerful. But we went in a matter of days, maybe hours, from random people on the streets of the United States not knowing what Ukraine was to stopping me, grabbing me by the elbow, strangers asking me if I'm supporting the weapons to Ukraine. And peace has actually been redefined as support for the war by Ukraine because war is something Russia does. Peace is, because nobody knows what unarmed civilian defense is. They've never heard of it. They don't know what diplomacy or deescalation or conflict resolution is. They've never heard of it. The only way you oppose a war is with a war, right? And so the Ukrainian war is actually peace, and so the democratic groups have peace rallies on one day against war in Gaza and on the next day for war in Ukraine, and they're both peace rallies, and you go to the first one 'cause you support it, they ask you if they'll see you tomorrow at the second one, you know. So this is the understanding of what peace in Ukraine means in the US mind.

Jackson Hinkle: Yeah, no, I remember in the early days, it was like if you don't support a no-fly zone over Ukraine, then you're pro-war, without understanding what that actually means, that it would mean World War III almost immediately.

David Swanson: Oh god, we are in a terrible situation. You were going to say something.

Jackson Hinkle: Oh, I was just going to add, you're not just pro-war, but you're probably paid by the Russian government. I mean, this is the common understanding.

David Swanson: Exactly, exactly.

Jackson Hinkle: Well, David Swanson, we don't have much positive stuff to report here from today. I mean, I'm hoping for the best. I'm hoping for peace. I hope that your vision of the world wins out, and we can have that peace, but it's a very, very, very delicate, dangerous time, and we're not led by people who are interested in peace. So thank you so much for coming on today and exhibiting what exactly we could have but unfortunately we don't have, and I don't think we'll have anytime soon. So is there anywhere you'd like to shout out for people to follow along so they can get engaged on the ground and read more about you and your work moving forward?

David Swanson: Well, I'm at davidswanson.org, and I work for, among other groups, worldbeyondwar.org, and there are people going to Egypt to get into Gaza, people going on ships from Europe, people fasting outside the UN in New York, people resisting the invasion of Los Angeles, people acting for peace across Africa and South America. If you want to get involved in anything in any way, join us at World Beyond War.

Jackson Hinkle: Very good. Thank you so much for joining me today.

David Swanson: Thank you.

Women & War: World BEYOND War’s 2024 Virtual Film Festival

From the World Beyond War website announcing the "Women & War: World BEYOND War’s 2024 Virtual Film Festival":

Day 2: Discussion of "Naila and The Uprising" on Saturday, March 16 at 3:00pm-4:00pm Eastern Daylight Time (GMT-4)

Panelists:

• Rula Salameh, Education and Outreach Director in Palestine, Just Vision: Rula Salameh is a veteran journalist, community organizer and the Education and Outreach Director in Palestine for Just Vision, an organization that fills a media gap on Israel-Palestine through independent storytelling and strategic audience engagement. She produced three of Just Vision's films - Budrus (2009), My Neighbourhood (2012) and Naila and the Uprising (2017) - and has led the team's public engagement efforts across Palestinian society for over 13 years. Since 2019, she has contributed a weekly column to Ma'an News covering Palestinian social issues from the perspective of grassroots communities. In addition to her work with Just Vision, Rula is the host of Falasteen al-Khair ("Philanthropy in Palestine"), one of the most popular TV shows in Palestine. Rula was one of the founders of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation in 1993 following the Oslo Accords. She has served as the Middle East Liaison for the organization Peace X Peace, as the Project Coordinator for Middle East Nonviolence and Democracy (MEND) and established a computer lab and children's library in the Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem through her work with Refugee Trust International. She has lead and spoken at hundreds of events across the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as the US, UK and internationally, sharing her experiences as a community organizer, documentary producer and Jerusalem resident with thousands of audiences including women, youth, faith leaders, refugees, political leaders, journalists and beyond. Rula has a BA in Sociology from Birzeit University in Ramallah and holds an international diploma in Computers in Business and Management from Cambridge International College. She is a member of the International Federation of Journalists and sits on the Board of Palestinian Friends Without Borders.

• Jordana Rubenstein-Edberg, Public Engagement Associate, Just Vision: Jordana is the Public Engagement Associate for Just Vision, an organization that fills a media gap in Israel-Palestine through independent storytelling and strategic audience engagement. In her role, she works collaboratively across the organization to support outreach, communications, and storytelling efforts. Jordana holds a double degree in Human Rights Journalism and Theater from Bard College, where she co-organized an arts education program in the West Bank for four years. She also holds an MFA Social Practice degree from the Corcoran School of Art in DC, a unique program that combines art and public policy. Jordana is a filmmaker and visual artist. Prior to Just Vision, she was a recipient of the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship where she studied visual storytelling practices in Central and South America. She also worked at a number of non-profit, gallery, and film organizations including the National Geographic Society (DC), Monument Lab (PA), Steps to End Family Violence (NYC), Artists Striving to End Poverty (NYC), and the Nashman Center for Civic Engagement (DC). Her films and visual artwork have been showcased at Transformer Gallery (DC), Art Basel (Miami), and the Corcoran Gallery (DC).

• David Swanson (facilitator), Co-Founder & Executive Director, World BEYOND War: David Swanson is Co-Founder, Executive Director, and a Board Member of World BEYOND War. David is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson’s books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk World Radio. He is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and was awarded the 2018 Peace Prize by the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation.

Rage Against the War Machine

Rage Against the War Machine Promotional Flyer

Rage Against the War Machine was a protest held on February 19, 2023 organized by the Movement for a People's Party and the Libertarian Party against US intervention in Russia's attack on Ukraine. David Swanson was a speaker listed on the Rage Against the War Machine website.

ACORN

In 2002, David Swanson is the Communications Director for ACORN, wrote an article for the Fall issue of Democratic Socialists of America's Democratic Left, "New Orleans Raises Minimum Wage".

Progressive Democrats of America

David Swanson serves on the Advisory Board of Progressive Democrats of America.

Ukraine: 'Commitment to Sending No More Weapons'

Time for Ceasefire in Ukraine?

A discussion dated Sept 26, 2023 titled "Time for Ceasefire in Ukraine?" features Medea Benjamin, Helena Cobban, Ray McGovern, and David Swanson.,

"In an endless war with already a half million casualties, is it more helpful to continue it -- risking nuclear apocalypse and guaranteeing impediments to addressing climate collapse -- or to demand a ceasefire, peace negotiations, and a commitment to sending no more weapons?

A public discussion featuring Medea Benjamin, Helena Cobban, Ray McGovern, and David Swanson.

Just World Educational, World BEYOND War

Endorsers

Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice, RootsAction.org, The Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Charlottesville Friends Meeting.

Endorsed Marcy Winograd

In 2006 David Swanson of After Downing Street Coalition was a National and State endorser of Marcy Winograd of the Los Angeles Progressive Democrats of America in her unsuccessful primary bid for the Democratic Party nomination 26th Congressional District in California

United for Peace and Justice Affiliation

In July 2007 David Swanson representing After Downing Street Coalition was affiliated to United for Peace and Justice.

March on Wall Street

On April 3 2008 David Swanson, Co-Founder of After Downing Street endorsed a Bail Out the People Movement organized "March on Wall Street" ;

Because we must demand that the needs of the people come before the greed of the super rich. Millions are jobless and homeless, and millions more will be living on the streets if the government continues to waste trillions of dollars on saving wealthy bankers instead of saving people.

Open Letter to Obama on Iran

In 2008 David Swanson of AfterDowningStreet.org, Charlottesville, VA signed an online petition “A Open Letter to Barack Obama on Iran”.

Campaign for Peace and Democracy

Swanson is listed as an endorser of the Campaign for Peace and Democracy, as of March 15, 2010.

National Peace Conference

The National Peace Conference, took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Albany New York, July 2010. Many workshops are scheduled and many leaders of the peace and progressive movements will be there: Cindy Sheehan, Kathy Kelly, Medea Benjamin, Ann Wright, Dahlia Wasfi, Leila Zand, Michael McPhearson, Kevin Martin, David Swanson, Glen Ford, and many others.

Keynote speakers were Noam Chomsky and Donna DeWitt (President of the South Carolina AFL-CIO).

Meeting with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

On September 21, 2010, David Swanson attended a meeting at a midtown hotel with President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and approximately 130 members of the U.S. "peace and social justice movements", as well as "major figures in the Black activist community."

Iraq: The Legacy of the 7-Year U.S. Occupation

On Sunday, August 29th 2010. at Busboys and Poets, 5th and K Sts. NW, Washington, D.C., an event "Iraq: The Legacy of the 7-Year U.S. Occupation" was held;

Is the U.S. military really leaving Iraq or just rebranding? What is the toll of seven years of occupation on Iraqis, U.S. soldiers and our economies? What is the status of Iraqi refugees around the world? Is it still possible to hold accountable those who dragged us into the war or committed crimes such as torture? What role did Congress and the media play in facilitating the invasion/occupation? We'll also look at the role of the peace movement -- its strengths and weaknesses -- and draw key lessons to make our work for peace, including in Afghanistan, more effective.

Speakers/performers included:

• Congresswoman Donna Edwards
• Kymone Tecumseh Freeman, playwright, performer, reading Letters from Iraq
• Head-Roc, hip-hop artist
• Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies
• Raed Jarrar, Peace Action
• Manal Omar, author
• Bill Fletcher, Jr., labor leader, scholar
• Josh Stieber, Iraq Veterans Against the War
• Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK and Global Exchange
• Andy Shallal, Iraqi artist, owner Busboys and Poets
• David Swanson, author
• Gene Bruskin, U.S. Labor Against the War
• Felicia Eaves, activist

The event was sponsored by: CODEPINK, Peace Action, Institute for Policy Studies, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Global Exchange, Just Foreign Policy, Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), U.S. Labor Against the War, ANSWER, World Can’t Wait, Voices for Creative Nonviolence, War is a Crime, Rivera Project, Washington Peace Center.

October2011.org

Key organizers of the October2011 movement include;

• Maria Allwine
• Ellen Barfield
• Catarina Correia
• Ellen Davidson
• Margaret Flowers
• Tarak Kauff
• Mark Mason
• Devra Morice
• Udi Pladott
• Ward Reilly
• Lisa Simeone
• David Swanson
• Dennis Trainor, Jr.
• Linda Wiener
• Rev. Dr. Bruce Wright
• Kevin Zeese

Take Back the American Dream Conference 2011

David Swanson was one of the 158 speakers who addressed the Take Back the American Dream Conference 2011 . The Conference was hosted by the Institute for Policy Studies, and Democratic Socialists of America dominated Campaign for America's Future,

Defending Iran

Several U.S.based "anti-imperialist and anti-war organizationsuary agreed on a January 17 2012, conference call to hold coordinated protests across the country on Saturday, Feb. 4. The demands will be: “No war, no sanctions, no intervention, no assassinations against Iran.”

The ad-hoc group that took part in the call decided that although there were only two weeks to organize, it would invite anti-war forces around the world to join in, if possible, so that this emergency action could develop into a global day of action.

All agreed on the need to stop U.S. imperialism and/or Israel from launching a military attack on Iran. There was also a consensus that the new sanctions President Barack Obama signed into law on Dec. 31 — with the goal of breaking the Iranian central bank — were themselves an act of war aimed at the Iranian people. The political activists on the call raised the danger of a wider war should fighting break out in or around Iran.

While the organizations involved had varied assessments of the Iranian government, they all saw any intervention from U.S. imperialism in the Southwest Asian country as a threat to the entire region and to peace. Some of the people on the call who are originally from Iran and who were in touch with family and friends there conveyed the Iranian people’s anger at the recent assassination of a young scientist.

There was agreement to make “no assassinations” one of the demands to show solidarity with the Iranian population as well as to condemn the U.S. and its allies for criminal activities against Iran and its people.

As of Jan. 19, the organizations that called the actions or endorsed later included the United National Antiwar Coalition, the International Action Center, SI! Solidarity with Iran, Refugee Apostolic Catholic Church, Workers World Party, World Can’t Wait, American Iranian Friendship Committee, Answer Coalition, Antiwar.com, Peace of the Action, ComeHomeAmerica.us, St. Pete for Peace, Women Against Military Madness, Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality-Virginia, WESPAC Foundation, Peace Action Maine, Occupy Myrtle Beach, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, Twin Cities Peace Campaign and Bail Out the People Movement.

Individual endorsers include authors David Swanson, “When the World Outlawed War,” and Phil Wilayto, “In Defense of Iran: Notes from a U.S. Peace Delegation’s Journey through the Islamic Republic”; and U.N. Human Rights Award winner Ramsey Clark, a former U.S. attorney general.

People could follow developments on the Facebook link: No War On Iran: National Day of Action Feb 4, www.Facebook.com/events/214341975322807/.

John Catalinotto represented Workers World Party on the Jan. 17 conference call.

External links

• Campaign for Peace and Democracy website