[continued from previous message] 
  
 The "historical legacy" of the International Brigade, as Martha 
 Gellhorn wrote, is that they were fighting for us all. For me, that 
 means a legacy of truth - a way of seeing through the smokescreen of 
 propaganda, including and especially the propaganda of our own 
 governments: a legacy of confronting great and rapacious power in 
 whatever form it appears. 
  
 That legacy is needed today more than ever. Impeccable gentlemen 
 now invade defenceless countries in our name. They speak of freedom and 
 democracy, and our way of life and our values. They don't wear armbands 
 and they don't strut. They are different from fascists. But their goals 
 are not different. Conquest, domination, the control of vital resources. 
  
 When the judges at Nuremberg laid down the ground rules of 
 international law following the Second World War, they described an 
 unprovoked, violent invasion of a defenceless country as "a crime 
 against humanity, the paramount war crime." 
  
 The world is a very different place from Barcelona in 1938, and 
 from the Sierra del Pandols, and the Valley of Jarama, and all the 
 battlefields of Spain, but the legacy of those who confronted fascism 
 then endures as a warning to us all today. 
  
 It is a warning about sinister power behind democratic facades that 
 uses the battle cries of democracy. It is a warning about messianic 
 politicians, apparently touched by God, and about appeasement and truth. 
 And it is about moral courage: about speaking out, breaking a silence. I 
 salute those of you International Brigaders who are here today, who did 
 more than speak out. I thank you and your fallen comrades for what you 
 did for us all, and for your legacy of truth and your moral courage. La 
 Lucha continua! 
  
 - -- 
 ================================================================ 
 ~ NY Transfer News Collective   *    A Service of Blythe Systems 
 ~ .        Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us          . 
 ~ 339 Lafayette St.,  New York,  NY  10012  http://www.blythe.org 
 ~ List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ 
 ~ Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr 
 ================================================================ 
 . 
  
  
 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- 
 Version: GnuPG v1.2.1 (GNU/Linux) 
  
 iQCVAwUBQtvwHUamV5Um0R3tAQIvJQP/dqERhkkZ8bv64kXEWfkvQ25FPAwwCL6P 
 Qab0bhR34oWEhIkqnTphoI4daGHFkhy5dCmt+yZBASIwGFWYKu3fefMSPbuft3DY 
 V+qnqhBRe+mgS550PgkY1HvCqHcp0PTPEiml8Q2v7NCt2abKlgszyXUkN1sXMh7Q 
 LCpzGMlTNsU= 
 =ind+ 
 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- 
  
 --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05 
  * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)