Friday, July 25, 2025

3:00 – 4:15 pm PT

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Wars RAGE As the World BURNS​

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Moderator: Gary Butterfield
Panelists:  Mike Prysner, Charlotte Dennett, Shirine Jurdi

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Summary of Session:  Today's war-ridden environment is overwhelming the news about and public attention to the ongoing climate crisis, yet the ever-growing
catastrophic effects of climate change intensify. We humans are falling short in our
response. We"ll provide an overview of the military's devastating contribution to the climate crisis and how to respond locally through protesting against military air shows.

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Purpose/Goal of session:   Inform VFP members of the existential threat the US military has on Earth's climate and living creatures, and what we can do in our own
communities.

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Topics Covered Militarism, climate change, social justice and survival of mankind.

 

Relation to Current Events Today's militaristic conflicts - shooting wars, economic violence and the ultimate threat of nuclear war, which all have the potential end impact of worldwide catastrophe, have relegated awareness of the unchecked climate crisis to back-of-mind. Although direct emissions from war fighting, termed “Scope 3+” in a report by the Conflict and Environment Observatory, are important, more critical is the resulting global increase in military spending and the increased Scope 3, “Supply Chain,” emissions by the war industry. Indian author Amitav Ghosh highlighted this problem in his essay in The Climate Book, edited by activist Greta Thunberg:  “…affluent nations felt able to contribute only $10 billion to a fund to help countries which are exceptionally vulnerable [to the climate crisis] but had no difficulty in increasing their defense spending by $1 trillion.”

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Follow-up Actions:  Increase VFP's membership awareness of the role the U.S. military, as the world's largest single institutional consumer of fossil fuels and emitter of greenhouse gases, has on the climate crisis. Then have members engage with and educate local climate and social justice advocates to protest military air shows as a focal point or example of our military’s waste and pollution. We will support and monitor these efforts through our contact email: climate@veteransforpeace.org.

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Mike Prysner, joining the US Army mere months before Sept. 11, 2001, Mike Prysner found himself invading Iraq in March 2003. After a year occupying the country, he returned home to get involved in the struggle against the war. His testimony at the 2007 Winter Soldier hearings became an internationally-renowned denunciation of the US occupation.

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He would gain prominence for organizing other Iraq veterans and leading civil disobedience against the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. His speeches and protest actions became seen by tens of millions.

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All the while, Mike was producing articles, newsletters, and other media aimed at active-duty service members with an anti-war message–much of it distributed on U.S. bases. Many readers became war resistors. This project evolved into a podcast show, Eyes Left, becoming a key resource for US troops becoming politically conscious.

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As a writer and producer of The Empire Files, he has continued to advocate for a better, more peaceful world through educational media projects.

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Charlotte Dennett is an attorney, author and investigative journalist, identified by Time magazine as an “expert in resources-based politics.” A former reporter in the Middle East, her most recent book (2020), Follow the Pipelines: Uncovering the Mystery of a Lost Spy and the Deadly Politics of the Great Game for Oil investigates the mysterious 1947 death of her father, this country’s First Master Spy in the Middle East, as he attempted to determine the route of the Trans-Arabian Pipeline.  Charlotte reveals how feverish competition among intelligence networks, military, and Big Oil interests have led to decades of war and the genocide in Gaza.

 

Oil and Gas exploitation: the $500 billion end game in Gaza

 

Shirine Jurdi holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s in International Affairs from Lebanese American University and did doctoral studies at Tokyo University in Foreign Studies which paved the way for work on topics pertaining to international peace and security within a gender perspective. A member of international networks, she is the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regional representative of the Women’s international League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), the MENA regional liaison officer for Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (MENAPPAC) and project coordinator for projects in the Permanent Peace Movement. Her work on disarmament and gender has been extensive; member of the coalition on Control Arms, and currently team leader of WILPF Lebanon on Ban Killer Robots Campaign. 

 

"Climate Crossfire: From Gaza to Ukraine, How War Military Spending Accelerate Climate Chaos"

 

Gary Butterfield was drafted into the US Army during the Vietnam War and then declared as a Conscientious Objector and opposed the war while in the military. He is resolute in acting on his commitment to Peace. He is a past President of the San Diego Chapter of Veterans For Peace and currently on the Steering Committee of the National Veterans For Peace Climate Crisis & Militarism Project. He is also a member of San Diego 350.org and is keenly interested in the effects of militarism on the climate crisis.

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We will examine the US military’s relationship to the climate crisis and what we can do to raise awareness and help us change the story from Empire to Earth Community.  Specifically we will examine the Veterans For Peace’s “No MAS” (No Military Air Shows) initiative to end the polluting and wasteful Blue Angels and Thunderbirds aerial acrobatics over our cities. Military air shows are a highly visible example of the Pentagon’s exorbitant contribution TO the climate crisis. Focusing on air shows is an effective way for climate activists to make the connection between the military and climate degradation.

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