Stop the Next War Now (5 page)

© Arlington West/www.arlingtonwestfilm.org

UNDERSTANDING THE U.S. MILITARY

MARTI HIKEN

Marti Hiken is the cochair of the Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild.

If we’re going to stop war, we need to understand how the U.S. military operates and strengthen our ties with the soldiers themselves. Right now many GIs are angry.They don’t want to be in Iraq, but they’re not sure what to do. The kind of resistance they form will determine how long this war lasts.

When we work with soldiers, we encourage them to realize not only that they have options, but that they also have strength.They control the war: they’re the ones who can throw their shoes into the machinery; they’re the ones who can put down the guns.

During the Vietnam War, the antiwar movement initially turned against the GIs. It took many years for activists to help GIs by starting coffee houses—a space near existing U.S. military bases where GIs, veterans, military counselors, and activists could talk and relax together in a comfortable setting. Coffee houses were an oasis for GIs coming back from Vietnam and a resource center for those going to learn firsthand the realities of war. It’s time to form coffee houses around military bases again and step up the other kinds of support such as counseling.

Here are some ways you can help:

SUPPORT THE GI RIGHTS HOTLINE.
In the mid-1990s, several groups came together to create a hotline to provide ongoing counseling to GIs. Women and men in the military can call 1-800-394-9544 to talk to a counselor, and they can read about the GI Rights Network online (www.nlg.org/mltf). If you’re interested in helping with the hotline, please call the number above.

ORGANIZE ON THE BASES THEMSELVES.
Go to places where GIs hang out in their own communities, and learn what it’s like to serve in the U.S. military. Spend time listening, understanding, making contact.

STEP UP THE COUNTER-RECRUITMENT PROJECTS IN HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGE CAMPUSES.
The American Friends Service Committee and the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft have both organized good efforts in this vein, but more are needed. See www.objector.org, the Web site of the Central Commitee for Conscientious Objectors, for a list of groups doing counter-recruitment. Download the literature, go to your local high schools, and pass it out.

“War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector

enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.”

— John F. Kennedy

ESSENTIAL

DISSENT

MARY ANN WRIGHT

Mary Ann Wright was the deputy chief of mission in the U.S. embassies of Sierra Leone, Micronesia,Afghanistan, and Mongolia. She received the State Department’s award for heroism as chargé d’affaires during the evacuation of Sierra Leone in 1997. She has also been a U.S.Army colonel, with twenty-six years of military experience.

As a diplomat and a member of the U.S. military, I served my country for almost thirty-five years in some of the most isolated and dangerous parts of the world, such as Somalia, Sierra Leone, and Afghanistan. Although I wanted to continue to serve America, in March 2003 I resigned from my position as a foreign-service officer and senior diplomat because I didn’t believe in many of the policies of the Bush administration and I couldn’t defend or implement them. Two other senior diplomats, John Brady Kiesling and John H. Brown, also resigned in opposition to the Iraq war.

I disagreed with the Bush administration’s policies on Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, North Korea, and curtailment of civil liberties in the United States—these policies, I believed, were making the world a more dangerous, not a safer, place.

For example, U.S. military action in Iraq created deep chasms in important international organizations and in the international community, alienating many of our allies. I strongly disagreed with the use of a “preemptive attack” against Iraq, a move that seemed destined to be used against us— with the United States setting the precedent, what was to stop our enemies from “preemptively attacking” America and American citizens? We gave extremist Muslims a further cause to hate America and handed moderate Muslims a reason to join the extremists.

Likewise, I could not support the Bush administration’s lack of effort to resurrect the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. As Palestinian suicide bombers killed Israelis and Israeli military operations killed Palestinians and destroyed Palestinian towns and cities, the administration did little to end the violence, when in fact we could exert our considerable financial influence to pressure the Israelis to stop destroying cities and the Palestinians to curb the young suicide bombers.

Additionally, I disagreed with the administration’s position on North Korea—the president’s lack of substantive discussion, dialogue, and engagement with North Korea during the first two years of his tenure jeopardized security on the peninsula and the region.

But one of my strongest concerns about U.S. policy was the unnecessary curtailment of civil rights following 9/11. While the investigation of those who might have ties to terrorist organizations is a critical matter, some of the investigative methods that the government has employed (including placing suspects in solitary confinement without access to legal counsel) seriously undermine the legal foundation on which our country has stood for more than two hundred years. Meanwhile the administration’s secrecy about the judicial process made many Americans afraid to speak out.

After I resigned, I felt it was important to speak directly to the American public about my concerns. During the past eighteen months I have spoken all over the country—to classes in high schools, colleges, and universities; to civic groups, to activists groups, and to church groups—about U.S. foreign policy, America’s standing in the world, and the role of disagreement and dissent in a democracy. I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of good wishes from thousands of Americans who appreciate a person giving up, on principle, a career she dearly loved. In fact, several months ago, when Brady, John, and I spoke together in a number of cities, the standing ovations we received showed us that many, many Americans were deeply impressed by our decision to sacrifice our careers in order to underscore our opposition to the war in Iraq.

I encourage all Americans to look critically at what our government is doing in our name. If we do not agree with an administration’s policies, it is our responsibility as citizens to let our voices be heard. But you don’t have to give up your job to try to influence U.S. policies—letters and e-mails to the administration and to our congresspeople are also important, as are actions by social justice, peace, and religious groups. Attend public demonstrations, marches, and rallies in large numbers, which will force the media to cover them. In particular, we cannot stand by and let our Congress be hoodwinked into giving the president wide-ranging powers, including the power of waging war. We have the responsibility to make our concerns known, especially when an administration does not want to listen to alternative viewpoints.

Above all, when our own government takes actions that put us all in jeopardy, we cannot sit back.

“You don’t have to have fought in a war to love peace.”

—Geraldine Ferraro

PROTECT YOUR RIGHT TO DISSENT

KIT GAGE

Kit Gage has directed the First Amendment Foundation and the National Committee Against Repressive Legislation (NCARL) since April 2001. She is president and a founder of the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom (NCPPF).

We’ll never be able to stop war if we don’t have the right to speak freely, organize demonstrations, and meet without government interference. Since 9/11, with the passage of the USA Patriot Act and other regulatory changes, we have lost many of our basic freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

Remember, we will retain our rights only if we demand them. Here are some ways you can stand up to protect our rights:

REACQUAINT YOURSELF WITH YOUR RIGHTS.
Go back to the source— read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.They are amazing documents.

GATHER SUPPORT FOR OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES.
The Bill of Rights Defense Committee (www.bordc.org) raises awareness about provisions of the USA Patriot Act that are a dangerous intrusion on our rights. By the end of 2004, more than 350 cities and counties—and 4 states—had passed resolutions to protect their residents’ civil liberties. Help get a similar resolution passed in your city, and if that has already been done, get one passed in your church, school, labor union, and business association!

CHECK OUT THE WEB SITES OF NATIONAL GROUPS.
The National Committee against Repressive Legislation (www.ncarl.org) has a site with links to about fifty groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (www.aclu.org) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (www.ccr-ny.org).

WE MUST SEPARATE

THE WARRIOR

FROM THE WAR

PATRICIA FOULKROD

Patricia Foulkrod is a filmmaker and has produced and directed
They’re Doing My Time
,a documentary regarding children of women in prison, and various features, including
American Rhapsody
. Patricia also teaches meditation to juveniles in prison, and is now helping Operation Truth to create a network and healing center for soldiers with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder.) She is currently filming
The Ground Truth
.

On the first anniversary of the U.S. invasion into Iraq, I began a documentary film,
The Ground Truth: The Human Cost of War
, which focuses on injured and mentally wounded men and women coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq. I believe that the trauma of war creates a lifelong isolation for these soldiers that is compounded by society’s indifference. It also feeds into a profound sense of betrayal that is underneath the actions of many soldiers who perpetrate more violence, commit suicide, become homeless, become alcoholic, and go deeper into this isolation.

Kevin Lucey lost his son to suicide after Jeff returned from Iraq. Recently, he said to me, “We would do things so differently if we knew what we know now. We would never treat him like he was just having a bad day.” Our commitment to peace must also be a commitment to being proactive with this new generation of soldiers—to engage in dialogue that allows all of us to truly separate the warrior from the war.

As women, mothers, daughters, and sister activists and organizers, we can be there for them as they try to find their voices.

CALL TO ACTION: SUPPORT VETERANS

CONTACT A VETERANS GROUP, A VA HOSPITAL COUNSELOR, NURSE, OR DOCTOR, AND ASK FOR GUIDANCE.
Facilitate a small forum or dinner where soldiers can share their experiences, show their pictures, be allowed to talk, or just come to dinner.They want to be relieved of their isolation, and they have the best knowledge about what happens in a war.

We do not have to talk only of war—we do not have to be their doctors, or therapists, or the ones who pay their benefits, fix their marriages, or stop their nightmares.They have been away for a long time and their lives are shattered—a household repair that we can help facilitate, a divorce that we can help them get through, a job that we can help make happen could be just as healing.

FIND A SOLDIER AND HIS OR HER FAMILY AND ASK THEM TO DINNER.

Many feel alone living in military communities, unable to be with their buddies away in combat, and unable to feel safe talking or connecting with civilians. I have seen firsthand many soldiers drop their assumptions about activists and antiwar protesters—and many activists begin to separate the warrior from the war.

The following are a few groups to contact for advice on (a) contacting soldiers who can speak publicly, (b) facilitating a discussion group, (c) hosting a potluck dinner, or (d) assisting soldiers who are physically or mentally challenged and need help at home:

Iraq Veterans Against War, www.ivaw.net

The Ground Truth, www.thegroundtruth.org

Operation Truth, www.optruth.org

Veterans for Common Sense, www.veteransforcommonsense.org

Veterans for Peace, www.veteransforpeace.org

Chapter 2

FROM

A CULTURE

OF VIOLENCE

TO

A CULTURE

OF PEACE

THE NEW PARADIGM

WE HOLD WITHIN

EVE ENSLER

Eve Ensler is the Obie Award–winning author of
The Vagina Monologues
, translated into more than thirty-five languages and running in theaters all over the world. Her newest play,
The Good Body
examines how women from Mumbai to Beverly Hills view their bodies. She is the founder of V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls.

Irecently got an e-mail from one of my sisters in Iraq, Yanar Mohammed. When the occupation of Iraq occurred, there was the promise, as there was a promise in Afghanistan, that women would be liberated. Well, in occupied Iraq, women are worse off today than they were under Saddam Hussein, and it was pretty terrible then. In the name of occupation, with the lawlessness and the rise of fundamentalism, roughly seventy women a month are being abducted and sold and raped. Women are not leaving their houses. Those who were once doctors and lawyers are too frightened to go to work.

I am obsessed with the notion of occupation. I think about it every day. The word means “to invade or enter a country by force or as an army, especially in order to conquer it.” I am obsessed with this because I am obsessed with women and violence and rape. And rape is, of course, the ultimate invasion, the ultimate occupation. Women’s bodies around the world are being invaded and occupied at a terrifying rate. The earth, our mother, is being invaded and occupied and devastated. In the name of silencing women and the earth, in the name of undermining the power of life, of birth, of mystery, of passion and ambiguity, there is this occupation and invasion.