West Hartford Citizens for Peace and Justice

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Photos - Cindy Sheehan Vigil August 12th

Write a Letter to Your Legislator

Click this link to VIEW VIDEO FOOTAGE OF RECENT PEACE and JUSTICE events

OCT 9TH, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6 p.m.)

TOWN HALL FORUM:

 THE ROLE OF DISSENT

Ann Wright

Retired U.S. Army Reserve Colonel, former Deputy Chief of Mission of US Embassies for the US Foreign Service

CO-AUTHOR of  Dissent: Voices of Conscience

and

one of three U.S. diplomats who resigned in March, 2003 in opposition to the Iraq war

Biography for Mary A. (Ann) Wright

Ann Wright resigned from the U.S. Foreign Service on March 19, 2003, while serving as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Mongolia.  She resigned due to her disagreement with the Bush administration’s decision to go to war in Iraq without the authorization of the UN Security Council, the lack of effort in resolving the Israel-Palestinian situation, the lack of policy on North Korea and unnecessary curtailment of civil liberties in the United States.

            Ms. Wright joined the Foreign Service in 1987 and served as Deputy Chief of Mission of US Embassies in Sierra Leone, Micronesia and briefly in Afghanistan.  She received the State Department’s Award for Heroism for her actions during the evacuation of 2500 persons from the civil war in Sierra Leone, the largest evacuation since the evacuation of Saigon in 1974.

Ms. Wright was on the first State Department team to go to Kabul, Afghanistan.  She helped reopen the US Embassy in Kabul in December, 2001 and worked in Afghanistan for five months, serving in the last month as Deputy Chief of Mission (Deputy Ambassador).

Ms. Wright’s other overseas assignments include Somalia with both the US mission and as chief of the Justice Division (reconstituting the Somali police, judicial and prison systems) of the United Nations Mission to Somalia (UNOSOM). She also served in US Embassies in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Grenada, Micronesia and Nicaragua.

            Before entering the Foreign Service, she served in the Army and has a combined regular Army/Army Reserve service time of 29 years.  She served primarily in special operations units and attained the rank of colonel.  While on military duty in 1982 and 1983 in Grenada, she was on the US Army’s International Law team and participated in civil reconstruction work following the US “rescue” mission.  Colonel Wright is airborne qualified.

Ms. Wright has Master’s and Law Degrees from the University of Arkansas and a Master’s Degree in National Security Affairs from the US Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island.  Ms. Wright has been featured in articles in the Washington Post magazine, Government Executive magazine, Foreign Service Journal, Ms magazine and has been interviewed by radio and TV networks.  In 2003, she participated in the documentary film             “ Uncovered: The Truth About the Iraq War” and in June, 2005 provided oral and written testimony to the US Congressional hearing on the importance of the Downing Street memos.

In August, 2005 Ms. Wright spent 26 days in the ditches at Camp Casey, Crawford, Texas with Cindy Sheehan putting pressure on President Bush to answer the question of why the war on Iraq is a “noble” cause.  She was a speaker on one of three buses that left Crawford traveling though the eastern United States that met in Washington, DC for the September 24-26 anti-war weekend. Ms. Wright was arrested on September 27, 2005  with 372 others for demonstrating without a permit in a peaceful, non-violent end-the-war protest in front of the White House. She was also arrested on October 26 in front of the White House during the commemoration of the deaths of 2000 US service members and over 100,000 Iraqis.  She was also arrested on November 23, 2005 in Crawford, TX to challenge a restrictive ordinance that prohibited use of the ditches for camping; and July 11, 2006 challenging the nomination of one of the Bush administration’s architects of torture, DOD General Counsel, William Haynes, for a life-long appointment as a judge on the 4^th Circuit Court of Appeals.  Most recently she was arrested on July 23, 2007 inside the office of US Congressman John Conyers for his refusal to consider hearings for the possible impeachment of President George Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney for the war of aggression on Iraq and other criminal acts.

Ms. Wright traveled to Amman, Jordan in August, 2006 to talk with Iraqi parliamentarians about their peace plan.  She participated in the Close Guantanamo delegation that traveled to Cuba in January 2007 to commemorate the 5^th anniversary of prisoners held in Guantanamo.

Ms. Wright lives in Honolulu, Hawaii.  She writes on current US foreign policy and speaks to university classes and civic groups in the United States and internationally.

She is the co-author of  “Dissent: Voices of Conscience,” that will be published by Koa Books in October, 2007.

Weekly Vigils
There is a weekly vigil that the West Hartford Citizens for Peace and Justice actively participates in:

Every Saturday at 11:30 am to 12:30 pm at the corner of Main Street and Farmington Avenue.

Weekly Meeting

The WHCPJ weekly members meeting is held on Tuesday at 7:30 PM at the Friends Meeting House (144 South Quaker Lane [between Farmington Ave and Boulevard, West Hartford, CT 06119)

About WHCPJ

WHCPJ members came together in opposition to the war on Iraq. Quickly organizing many group meetings to raise awareness of the impending invasion of Iraq and the USA PATRIOT ACT, hundreds of citizens from West Hartford and throughout the state wrote letters, made phone calls to legislators, and demonstrated locally and in New York and Washington DC voicing intense opposition to the knee jerk reactions of this administration to the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001.

WHCPJ’s members represent a diverse group of parents, teachers, blue collar workers, laborers, professionals, business owners, high-school and college students. Our members DO NOT have to live in West Hartford to attend, contribute time and/or talent to our events. We welcome all who are concerned about current U.S. domestic and foreign policies that contribute to unjust wars and anti-democratic practices here and around the world.

After working hard to organize as many CT residents as possible to become a viable grassroots group, WHCPJ became incorporated on May 5, 2005 with the invaluable help of the Pro-Bono Initiative out of the UCONN Law School. Thanks to that agency helping helping non-profits get started, we are now pursuing 501c 3 status and look forward to being a tax-exempt organization!

WHCPJ sponsors forums on various topics related to issues revolving around peace, justice, and democratic principles. These forums are typically held at the West Hartford Town Hall or Webster Hall in the main branch of WH Public Library, 20 South Main Street. Click on the WHCPJ Forums to see a list of past and upcoming forums.

In June, 2003, WHCPJ sponsored a forum on The USA PATRIOT ACT. Our then Mayor, Jonathan Harris moderated our first and very successful event Town Hall. Our next forum on Media and Democracy was held in October at University of Hartford a panel that included professor at UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN Robert Jensen, local business columnist Dan Haar of the Hartford Courant, and author of Into the Buzzsaw, Kristina Borjesson. A forum on the Current Iraq War and Occupation was held in February and another on the 9/11 and U.S. foreign policy were held at West Hartford Town Hall in June, 2004.

You can e-mail us at whcpj@yahoo.com for more information.

Thanks
WHCPJ Steering Committee