Progressive Peace Coalition (aka Columbus Progressive Alliance) (PPC/CPA)

Progressive Peace Coalition (aka Columbus Progressive Alliance) (PPC/CPA)

Overview

* Opposes the Patriot Act and the U.S. embargo of Cuba
* Urges the prosecution of U.S. soldiers for war crimes against Iraq
* Affiliated with the pro-Communist anti-war group United For Peace and Justice


Based in Columbus, Ohio, the Progressive Peace Coalition (PPC), or Columbus Progressive Alliance (CPA), defines itself as “a political activist group that focuses on events and activities at the Ohio State University, around Columbus, and central Ohio.” It is a local affiliate of the pro-Communist anti-war group United For Peace and Justice. PPC enumerates it major positions and campaigns on issues of concern as follows:

Flirting With Disaster: Initiated in conjunction with Peace Action, this campaign exhorts Members of Congress to vote against funding for a new “bunker buster” weapon (officially called the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator) designed to reach targets, such as bunkers, that are buried deep in the earth.

Fund Medicaid: “With the President pushing for tax cuts of hundreds of billions of dollars aimed largely at millionaires, surely we can find the relatively small amount of money needed” to increase federal subsidies for Medicaid.

Ban Depleted Uranium in Weapons: Asserting that exposure to depleted uranium (which was used in Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War) can lead to serious health problems, this program supports The Depleted Uranium Munitions Study Act — co-sponsored by Democratic Representatives Tammy Baldwin, John Conyers, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Barbara Lee, Edward Markey, Jim McDermott, and Charles Rangel — to study the health and environmental impact of depleted uranium munitions. 

Stop Patriot Act II: This program opposes the provisions of the “Domestic Security Enhancement Act” which, according to PPC, tramples on people’s constitutional rights in the manner of a totalitarian regime. 

Bring Them Home Now: Organized in conjunction with the anti-war organization Bring Them Home Now, this is “a campaign of military families, veterans, active duty personnel, reservists and others opposed to the ongoing war in Iraq and galvanized to action by George W. Bush’s inane and reckless challenge to armed Iraqis resisting occupation to ‘Bring ’em on.’” 

Support The Palestine Solidarity Conference: Condemning “vicious attack[s] by Zionist forces aiming to silence the voices of those standing for peace and justice in Palestine,” this campaign pledges support for the Palestine Solidarity Movement.  

The Palestine Right to Return Coalition: This campaign pledges support for the agendas of Al-Awda.

Hold War Criminals Accountable: In conjunction with the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Center for Economic and Social Rights, Greenpeace International, and Peacerights, PPC seeks, through this program, to punish the alleged “war crimes against the Iraqi people” committed by U.S. forces and their allies. In the wake of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in the Spring of 2004, PPC members convened before the media and displayed a placard that read, in both English and Arabic, “We are sorry for the inhumane actions of our government.”

Articles of Impeachment Against Bush: “Ramsey Clark … has drafted articles of impeachment setting forth high crimes and misdemeanors by President Bush and other civil officers of his administration. … There is nothing Americans can do that is more important … than to impeach Bush and his administration.”

Letter to the International Criminal Court: “… [W]e, citizens of the United States of America, respectfully request that consideration be given to indicting our own President, George W. Bush, as a war criminal, for unleashing a basically unprovoked war on a populace that has already suffered immeasurably from over a decade of economic sanctions … [and] imposing the horrors of modern warfare upon innocent people.”

End Cuba Travel Ban: “The United States’s forty-year strategy of isolating Cuba … contravenes … the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and … the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which protect citizens’ right to freedom of travel.” 

Say No to NAFTA: “The North American Free Trade Agreement has already had a disastrous impact on working families throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Now corporate interests want to expand NAFTA rules to the entire Western Hemisphere.”  

Petition Against the Apartheid Wall: “[Israel’s] building of the Apartheid Wall in the Occupied Territories is now at a critical stage. The completed sections of the wall have already caused considerable suffering to the Palestinian population. … Add your voices to the Petition against construction of the Wall.”

The PPC website features an “Iraq Body Count” section, which purports to accurately quantify the Iraqi civilian casualties that have occurred since the start of the war in March 2003; an “Iraq Coalition Casualty Count,” which tabulates the number of deaths and injuries to American and coalition soldiers; and a “Cost of War” section, which keeps a running tab of the money the U.S. government has spent on the Iraq War. 

A contact for PPC, Connie Hammond, is the Secretary of the Democratic Socialists of Central Ohio.

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