Evidently, this was not news that was ‘fit to print’

Has anyone heard that U.S. mayors, members of the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), denounced President Obama and NATO for conducting war games along Russia’s border and possibly provoking a nuclear confrontation?

The USCM is a nonpartisan organization of city leaders of communities with a population of 30,000 or more.

I don’t know about you, but I was made aware of this only Tuesday when a friend came across the story on Facebook. The statement or resolution was adopted at the USCM’s 84th Annual Conference from June 24—27.

Although I’m not a journalist, it seems to me that this is an important story that should be shared nationally. But, it appears that this story has been largely ignored, not only by our mainstream media, but by the so-called alternative media (I’m including Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now!, which currently receives funding from the billionaire “liberal,” George Soros), those that are publicly funded. I looked in the N.Y. Times, the paper that prints “all the news that’s fit to print,” and could not locate any article dealing with the USCM criticism of Obama’s nuclear modernization program.

Where did it appear? The news article describing the mayor’s conference and their resolutions appeared in Sputnik, a Russian sponsored publication. Why have the MSM ignored this? As far as the media and “our” government is concerned, this is information that we, the people, do not need to know. Instead, we are fed disinformation regarding Russia’s “aggression” while the U.S. and NATO surround Russia with their troops and weapons and hold war games along Russia’s border.

This is the reason why the people of the U.S. are uninformed or misinformed. The corporate media not only presents and frames its news in a biased manner, but often withholds the news so that the people are unaware of anything other than what they want you to know. But where have the “alternative” media disappeared to? There is nothing but silence.

Members of the conference took issue with NATO’s Anaconda War Games, “the largest NATO war games in decades, involving 14,000 U.S. troops, and the activation of U.S. missile defenses in Eastern Europe.”

The statement further places this whole issue in context stating, “”More than 15,000 nuclear weapons, most orders of magnitude more powerful than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs, 94% held by the United States and Russia, continue to pose an intolerable threat to cities and humanity.”

The USCM did not stop there, continuing its evaluation of U.S. and NATO priorities. It did not hesitate to criticize Obama’s capitulation to the military and defense establishment by supporting a $1 trillion nuclear modernization program over the next three decades. The expenditures would include monies for maintaining and modernizing its nuclear bombs and warheads, production facilities, delivery systems, and command and control.

I would assume President Obama is not familiar with the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty which the U.S. has signed on to. Why else would he propose a program that would increase U.S. nuclear capabilities?

The conference statement was not merely limited to criticizing Obama, it also labeled areas where there are insufficient funds to meet the needs of our own people such as to build affordable housing to house the homeless and those who cannot sustain their rents, create jobs that offer livable wages, improve public transportation, and develop sustainable energy sources.

Instead of responding to human needs, the U.S. and NATO seem bent on funding human destruction. As usual, the money for military and “defense” issues (I consider these expenses less defense than imperialistic) is available but the working people of Europe and the U.S. must endure austerity programs while the rich get richer.

GOD BLESS AMERIKA AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMNESIA!!

Dave Alpert has masters degrees in social work, educational administration, and psychology. He spent his career working with troubled inner city adolescents.