October 2007 - Veterans For Peace Los Angeles

Farewell David Cline
By David Zeiger
I was very sad to receive the news
that Dave Cline died.
There are many wonderful tributes
to Dave being written, and I would like
to add some personal reflections on the
part of his life with which I was deeply
connected-the GI Movement against
the Vietnam War. I met Dave in the
Spring of 1970, when I joined the staff
of the Oleo Strut Coffeehouse outside
Ft. Hood in Killeen, Texas. My introduction to him and the GI Movement
was riding in a broken down Chevy
with Dave driving 120 mph through
central Texas and me convinced I
would never get out of there alive. I’m
not sure anything defines Dave Cline
better than that wild ride.
Dave and I were from different
worlds. I was a middle class kid who
came to my opposition to the war and
growing radicalism intellectually.
Dave, a working class kid from
Buffalo, was drafted into the army and
had been wounded three times in
Vietnam. It was his last wound, from
an NLF soldier at point blank range,
that changed everything. The soldier
shattered Dave’s knee, and Dave killed
him with a bullet in the chest. His first
realization was it was “pure luck” that
he was alive and the other guy was
dead. Then it hit him that there was no
real difference between the two of
them. Finally, the epiphany: It was the
NLF soldier who was fighting for a
just cause, while Dave and his comrades were fighting for a lie. In typical
Dave Cline fashion he concluded in
1970, “I had to kill a revolutionary to
become a revolutionary.”
And revolutionaries we were. Right
there in Killeen f@#*ing Texas. In
1971-with literally thousands of GIs
rebelling against the war and joining
groups like the Black Panther Party-
planning demonstrations by day and
hotly debating the writings of Marx,
Lenin and Mao by night was a very
practical thing to do. And boy could
Dave debate. Even in his sleep. It wasn’t uncommon for him to jolt up from
his bed at 2 am to continue a discussion from earlier that day, only to have
no memory of it the next morning
(Dave claimed he had even slept
through a mortar attack in Vietnam).
It was in that cauldron that we grew
up. We were part of an unprecedented
political upheaval, and we were alive
in a way that is very rare-even though
we could barely afford to eat two
skimpy meals a day. Terry Davis,
Dave’s wife at the time, reminded me
recently that one of her happiest
moments was when Mark Lane donated a sack of potatoes to the staff.
Dave was intense, determined, and
maddeningly stubborn. In 1970, the
last thing a GI wanted to do after getting out of the army was live in a military town-even if he had been active
in the movement. But here was Dave,
during high points and low (most of
the time), refusing to let go or give up.
His connection with GIs, whether they
agreed with us or not, was deep and
seamless-and it made the Oleo Strut
something special. I can’t begin to
quantify what I learned from Dave
those two years.
Then the war ended, and we all
moved into other arenas, believing
deeply in the possibility of revolution
right here in the United States. For a
while we stayed close, but through the
years political disagreements developed, and in those heady times that
meant a lot. By the end of the 70s and
beginning of the 80s we weren’t in
Farewell continued on page 18
Contents
October 2007
Departments
Features
3 Editorial
3 E.D.’s report
4 President’s Report
6 Chapter News
13 Poetry
16 Book Review
22 VFP Merchandise Items
1 Farewell Dave Cline
2 Former Enemies
5 The Boots
11Weekend of Solidarity
12 Hugo Chavez
14 Commentary
15 UN-NGO
20 Iraq Water Project
21 Puerto Rico
Former Enemies Find New Way Forward
Board Of Directors
Elliott Adams
President
Sharon Kufeldt
Vice-President
Kenneth Mayers
Treasurer
Mike Ferner
Secretary
Frank Ackles
Ellen Barfield
Anita Cole
William Collins
Frank Houde
Patrick McCann
Michael Uhl
Wayne Wittman
EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR
Michael T. McPhearson
Our Staff
Christine Brooks
Cherie Eichholz
Gabriela Inderwies
Nick Lyter
Betsy Reznicek
Chris Snively
Douglas Zachary
by Mike Ferner - written 9/26/2007
St. Louis — A young man from Palestine
and another from Israel riveted 400 U.S. military veterans to their seats last week in this city
on the Mississippi River. What captivated the
audience was their recent decision to put down
the guns they had pointed at each other for
years.
The two members of Combatants For
Peace addressed the mid-August national convention of Veterans For Peace, a 7,000 - member organization dedicated to abolishing war.
Yonaton Gur, a 28 year-old Israeli journalist and Tel Aviv University student spoke first.
“My grandfather commanded the Israeli
Navy during the 1967 war, my father was an
officer in Israeli Army Intelligence, and I grew
up on a kibbutz.” But, he explained, “I also
grew up in the 90’s, with a more peaceful perspective following the (1993) Oslo Accords.”
Gur served as a Lieutenant in the Israeli
Army’s armored corps and as a reservist in the
occupied territories. “Many small stories
make up the everyday life of an occupation,”
he said, and something as mundane as a shirt
pocket first caught his attention. “I never
realized how important shirt pockets were, but
when you’re an Arab in the occupied territories you have to reach into that pocket many
times a day, at any moment, to produce your
ID for Israeli authorities at checkpoints.”
His duty in the occupied territories eventually convinced the former reservist that the
occupation was wrong. “We would be on
patrol and stop simple farmers, making them
wait a half hour or more while we called back
to the base to check on them. I tried to be as
human as possible, with my best attitude.
That felt good at first but the fact that I was
doing it at all was the main issue. It didn’t
matter if I was being nice about it.”
in Sociology from Bir Zeit University in
Ramalla, is Gur’s Palestinian partner in CFP.
Today he shares a stage instead of the killing
grounds with his former enemy. Married,
with two daughters, the 28 year-old calls his
own story “part of the whole Palestinian
story.”
Not even ten years old at the start of the
first intifada in 1987, he “faced the occupier on
the way to school every day” and saw people
gunned down by Israeli forces. It became the
norm for boys to try and provoke an incident
with troops “sometimes to prove our manhood, and sometimes just for shits and giggles,” Al-Haddar said through a bemused
interpreter.
On one occasion he and a young friend
were throwing rocks at an Israeli Army jeep.
“The soldiers fired at us and my friend was
killed on the spot. I couldn’t believe it. I was
in shock. It made me angry so that only black
revenge stayed in my mind. I revolted any
way I could. I even joined the radical group,
Fatah. I used guns and threw Molotov cocktails. I was arrested before finishing high
school.”
Israeli security forces put Al-Haddar in a
small, dark cell under solitary confinement for
45 days of interrogation. “I was petrified of
death. During that time I learned about other
revolutions, like the ones in Algeria, Cuba and
Vietnam. That knowledge gave me the push
to continue.”
Released at the age of 17, he “kept the
same attitude - to fight and use violence.”
When the second intifada began in 2000,
Israelis placed a curfew on his village as the
killings and bloodshed resumed. When his
cousin was killed it changed his life, Al-
The moral dilemma he found himself in
eventually forced him to quit the reserves.
“You can’t on the one hand be against the
occupation and yet still be part of the military.”
Gur’s decision placed him “against most of my
people and my family tradition. But once I
resigned, I knew I had to do more, so I joined
Combatants for Peace.”
VFP leads the parade in
Washington D.C. on
September 15, 2007.
That group was formed in early 2005 by
Palestinian and Israeli fighters tired of violence, who decided to try a different way.
Their web site succinctly states this revolutionary idea: “ After brandishing weapons for
so many years, and having seen one another
only through weapon sights, we have decided
to put down our guns, and to fight for peace.”
Raed Al-Haddar, who holds a Bachelor’s
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Combatants for Peace Raed Al Haddar
and Yonathan Gur address the VFP
Convention in St. Louis.
Photo by John Grant
Former Enemies Continued on page 19
Editorial by Michael Uhl
The architects of the Executive Presidency let’s call them Cheneyites - who are stripping
away the power-sharing balance among our
three branches of government, and who have
engineered the steady erosion of our personal
liberties, are driven toward a single objective.
They strive to preserve and, if possible, expand
into the unforeseeable future the unipolar dominance of the United States over world affairs
and resources. Their critics within the establishment, who nonetheless subscribe to the
same world view, believe it is not necessary to
tamper with traditional democratic forms to
maintain the preeminence of American power.
What these seemingly competing factions
mutually recognize, of course, is that the
American Way of Life depends on U.S. dominance; their differences are in means not ends.
When you challenge that basic premise, you
threaten, first and foremost, the privileges of
Domestic Enemies
their power and their affluence - they being the
nation’s most powerful political and military
castes and their sustainers throughout industry,
finance, media and other influential sectors of
society.
We know, moreover, that all Americans benefit materially - though hardly equally - from
the fruits of the U.S. Imperium. It’s not surprising therefore that appeals to the American
public for reversals or even restraints to our
militarist foreign policy, which would lead to a
genuine reduction of U.S. global power, find
tremendous resistance, even when people only
vaguely suspect that their own material well
being might also be at stake. The task to educate our fellow Americans about where their
and our country’s future generation’s true
interests lie appears at times, not just formidable, but overwhelming.
And, yet, for the sake of humanity, and
Executive Director’s Report
We Must Regain the Initiative. VFP is Up For the Struggle
Every year I
am amazed at the
quality of
Veterans For
Peace National
Conventions. The
2007 event was
no exception.
With the support
of the local peace
and justice comMichael T. McPhearson munity the Don
Veterans For Peace
Connors Chapter
Executive Director
61, Saint Louis,
MO of VFP did an excellent job. Since the
National Office is in St. Louis, I had an
opportunity to see planning and execution of
the convention from the ground floor. How
impressive that year after year, chapter after
chapter accepts a nearly impossible task and
makes it look easy. Thank you to all chapters
who have hosted conventions and to those
who will soon take up the challenge.
The health of Veterans For Peace is excellent. Our financial status is solid. Thanks to
several generous gifts this year, we have more
money in the bank than ever before.
However, as we look at the next fiscal year
there are disturbing trends. Veterans For
Peace is a membership funded organization.
Membership renewals and member donations
account for 81% of national funding. Our
membership renewal revenue is down.
Fortunately, some of this deficit is offset by
our continued growth of new members running ahead of projections. But, our member
donation revenues are down as well. Many
of our new members are not renewing.
Concerned with this trend I approached Doug
Zachary our fundraising consultant who
speaks to hundreds of members a month. We
decided he would concentrate on calling
members in the rears and ask why they had
not renewed. The overwhelming majority
stated they forgot and wanted to continue to
be a member. So if you are reading this and
have not renewed, please do so then call other
members and ask if they have renewed. If you
have renewed, please give a donation.
So if you are reading
this and have not
renewed, please do so
then call other members and ask if they
have renewed.
Veterans For Peace needs both your financial and physical involvement. VFP faces
enormous challenges. In 2001 the membership of VFP was at best 700. Now it is over
7,000. We are truly a national organization.
The National Office will continue to work
hard to provide a national web presence
(website, e-letter, list-serves and VFP Store),
-3-
because we also value our own skins, even
though we may have to tighten our belts
around them in the short run when the gravy
train begins to dry up, the American Way of
Life must be challenged. We can not survive
humanely in a world controlled by the individuals, and perhaps not even the institutions, that
govern us today.
The greatest potential danger, the
omnipresent elephant in the room, comes from
nuclear weapons, their proliferation and the
unfathomable consequences of their use in a
modern world increasingly armed to the teeth
with such doomsday weaponry. More in our
faces than the implied nuclear threat is the
Editorial continued on page 19
VFP Newsletter
Michael Uhl: Editor
Gabriela Inderwies: Layout
Contributing Editor:
Robert Graybill
John Grant
Will Shapira
Editor-At-Large:
W. D. Ehrhart
VFP National Office, 216 S. Meramec Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63105, Tel. (314) 725-6005
e-mail vfp@veteransforpeace.net
Copyright 2007, Veterans For Peace
national newsletter, maintain national and
chapter membership rolls, organize a yearly
national convention, support member and
chapter activities and help organize and facilitate actions. Due to our growth the national
staff is in constant adjust mode. The growth
has also triggered higher visibility and
expanding influence. This ongoing change in
the relative presence of VFP across the
national landscape requires forward planning.
The National Board of Directors and several
other members will participate in a planning
retreat in October to examine how VFP can
better support chapters and members (communication, mobilization, resources) and
develop a deliberate approach to using our
position as veterans to forward achievement
of our Statement of Purpose. More on this
process as information becomes available.
On September 15, 2007, former President
of Veterans For Peace and long time member
of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, David
Cline died. He recruited me into Veterans For
Peace and I am forever grateful to him as my
friend and mentor.
E.D. Report continued on page 18
President’s
by Elliott Adams
As we struggle
against the continued occupation of Iraq, our
minds keep going
back to our loss
of Dave Cline.
Many little things
remind us how
much he meant to
us as individuals and as an organization. He
was a pivotal figure in Veterans For Peace’s
development. He took office when VFP was
about 15 years old and was small and in turmoil. He helped us come together and find a
direction. He gave us a persona; who can
think of VFP with out picturing Dave Cline
with his gravelly voice delivering a talk in simple words but with intellectual power - exemplifying the VFP membership with our feet
firmly planted on the ground and in reality, but
our minds engaged in the lofty conflicts of big
ideas. He made VFP and the greater veteran
community feel like a family, making each
person feel that they were an important part of
that community.
While he was president of VFP he was also
important in many other groups and on many
issues; saving Vieques from being a bombing
range, getting the VA to acknowledge the
health problems from Agent Orange, getting
help for the Vietnamese Agent Orange victims,
keeping VA hospitals open, active with VVAW,
active with DAV, the Jersey City Vietnam
Memorial, and the list goes on and on.
Even more than being a leading figure, Dave
Cline’s legacy is that he built up VFP as an
organization. He leaves us a strong organization ready and able to struggle against the
powers that profit from war. It is an organization that is filling a leadership role nationally
and locally in the struggle to stop the occupation of Iraq and the struggle to abolish war.
As hard as it is to lose a friend and a leader, we
cannot falter on the mission which was his and
is ours.
As evidence of our effectiveness, members
of VFP are working to stop the occupation of
Iraq on many fronts. To name a few of them:
members work on truth in recruiting to reduce
the numbers of enlistees available for an unjust
occupation; members are working to pressure
congress through petitioning, civil disobedience, and lobbying to end this unjust occupation; members are helping those in uniform
express their objection to this illegal occupation; members are working to defend soldiers
who are victims of injustice at the hands of the
Report
military; and members are winning over public
opinion with displays and speeches that highlight the human cost of this futile and wasteful
occupation. These activities are contributing,
in a process that for us is painfully slow, to the
ever increasing opposition to this occupation
among the politicians and the public.
tion. Each step, which of course included
many individual actions, was connected to the
previous, each upped the ante enough, but not
too much. Together, linked, coordinated, and
reasonably escalating, they were successful.
But any of them by themselves would have
failed. And even the same actions done in a
In our search for ways to be more effective different order would have had less chance of
we sometimes lose sight of strategy as a tool success. This is not only about nationwide or
for amplifying the impact of any of our movement-wide strategy. It is just as important
actions. By planning clusters of actions in a if not more so that each initiative, each chaplinked, sequential, and gradually escalating ter, and each group apply strategy to what they
way, each of the individual actions has more are doing.
impact. Take the Nashville lunch counter sit-in
As each of us continues with his or her own
campaign as an example; it was not a single act portion of the struggle, we continue to keep
or even a single step. It started with planning Dave’s memory alive. And though we feel
and training, then the sit-ins, then the jail in, his loss deeply, we cannot loose sight of our
followed by growing public demonstrations, mission. We must use Dave’s memory, each
pickets of downtown, and then the boycott of in our own way, to make us stronger in the
downtown. It all lead to the brilliant agree- struggle.
ment which both desegregated the downtown
###
and assured there would be no public humiliation of those who had participated in segrega-
COST
OF
WAR
CARDS
The cards shown above are an experiment. We have printed
a number of them for members and chapters to distribute
in any way you see fit: to acquaintances, people with opposing viewpoints, in public areas, etc.
Be creative (i.e. stick them on the shelves in your grocery
store, leave some at the post office, give a couple to the
co-worker you always argue with, etc.). The cards are
designed as a conversation starter and of course, to highlight what WE all know to be true regarding the cost of
war, but that which many do not know.
If you want a stack of these cards, please email or call
Cherie at the National Office (ceichholz@veteransforpeace.net or (314) 725-6005).
-4-
VFP Convention: The Boots
by Justin C. Cliburn, IVAW
It was near the end of the day, most of the
booths and conference rooms were empty as I
made my way back into the heart of the convention to look for a friend. Only a few people
remained in the cluttered hallway: some were
talking amongst themselves; others were packing up books, fliers, and packets. One man was
alone in the middle of the hallway and I immediately saw that I would most likely have to
walk around him. He was a tall man, taller than
me at least, with curly black hair and an
anguished smile on his face. A pair of desert
boots dangled from his right hand. That’s odd,
I thought. Many of us wore our desert boonie
cap or DCU cut off shorts, but this was the first
man I had seen carrying around his boots.
Our eyes met and I knew that I wouldn’t be
able to ignore him. I was in a hurry, but I wasn’t going to ignore the man. I took a couple
more steps in his direction before he grabbed
me and pulled me close in his arms. He was
hugging me like he never wanted to let go; I
could feel the boots bouncing on my back as
he pat my back and repeated the words “Thank
you” it seemed like a hundred times. The
whole thing was overwhelming. The musk of
his cologne was almost as strong as his
embrace; his strong embrace contrasted with
the weakness in his breathless, sad, Latino
voice. He pulled away and told me how happy
he was that I was alive. I can’t even tell you
how I replied; I don’t know. I just remember
looking at those boots, and then it hit me . . .
. . . the boots weren’t his.
Alexander Arredondo, 25, was killed by
enemy fire three years ago today, August 25,
2004. The man that still had one
hand on my shoulder was Carlos Arredondo,
Alexander’s still-grieving father. Suddenly, it
all seemed so obvious to me; I mean, a tribute
to Alexander adorned Carlos’ shirt, but in my
haste, I had overlooked it when I first saw the
man with the curly hair and desert boots.
The next time I saw Carlos, he was giving a
speech to the hundreds of people gathered at
the Gateway Arch. He was still carrying his
son’s boots, the same boots that I felt on my
back, the same boots that his son wore the day
he died. A great sadness came over me as I
thought about how poor Carlos must have
reacted when he learned of his son’s death. I
made a mental note to Google Mr. Arredondo
when I returned to Oklahoma; perhaps he had
a website. Maybe I could find his email and
shoot him an encouraging word or two about
the power of our first meeting.
When I got home, I did Google Carlos
Arredondo. I didn’t find an email address or a
website, but what I did find was amazing. I
don’t know what it is like to have children, and
I of course don’t know what it’s like to lose a
child.
After
reading
this
article
(http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/08/25/fa
ther.ablaze/) I think I may have a
small idea. I hope that you find
some peace in this world, Mr.
Arredondo; I hope you know how
much you touched the people at
the
Veterans
For
Peace
Convention, and I hope that I
never feel the pain you did that
fateful day three years ago.
Iraqi Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, a nationally
known speaker and activist, addressing the crowd at the Speak Out.
Rest in Peace, Alexander.
###
Left: Elaine Johnson, member of
Gold Star Families Speak Out, at the
podium. Elaine’s son was killed in
action in Iraq in 2003.
Above: A handcrafted drum was the
grand raffle price. Winner Anna
Stange with drum, VFP president
Elliott Adams and Ann Wright, a former U.S. diplomat who resigned
from the State Department in opposition to the war in Iraq.
Above: Gold Star Families at the
St. Louis March to the Arch.
All pictures by Jim Balogh
-5-
Chapter Reports
Chapter 1, Maine
Another busy quarter for Maine’s William
Ladd Chapter.
1 July: Our members participated as
Peacekeepers and others joined the demonstration to Walkers Point in Kennebunkport.
About 1,800 people participated in the event
including other VFP chapters from Bangor,
Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont
and Massachusetts.
The chapter also tabled at the Full Circle
Fair in Blue Hill with the Bangor Chapter
and at the Brunswick Peace Fair.
25 August : Maine VFP again acted as
peacekeepers at the 4000 strong rally and
march in Kennebunkport (see page 11).
9 September: Maine Share Hike and Bike
raised $15,000. VFP 1 is a member of Maine
Share and several of our members volunteer
at the event.
14 September: Our vice president Kristina
Wolff joined a group of 5 women,
Farmington Women in Black, who delivered
flowers to and occupied Senator Susan
Collins’ office in Portland calling for immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq: reports on
the effects of PTSD on women in Iraq as well
as reports of sexual abuse within the military.
15 September: The chapter organized, with
the Global Network Against Nuclear Weapons
in Space, a demonstration against The Blue
Angels flight team at the Brunswick Naval
Air Station. The 75 participants rallied in the
pouring rain and heard wonderful speeches by
Dud Hendricks of VFP chapter 1, and poetry
written and read by Doug Rawlings, two
MFSO members, and Betty Burkes from
WILPF.
21-23 September: The Common Ground
Fair proved to be the place where we met our
goal of distributing over 300 “Americans
Who Tell The Truth” 17 month calendars to
school teachers. In addition we have sold
over 600 calendars. We continue to give calendars to teachers. At the fair we had
resounding success speaking with veterans,
veterans families, and young people.
Bob Lezer
Chapter 10, Albany, NY
On the 4th of July, the Tom Paine chapter
conducted a press conference to bring awareness to the sensitivity veterans often have to
fireworks along with the need for treatment of
PTSD. A Hiroshima day vigil was conducted
by Dan Wilcox bringing attention to the madness of nuclear weapons. Our chapter partici-
pated with Women Against War in vigils for
increased funding at the VA Hospital and also
opposing war with Iran. We cosponsored the
9th annual Kateri Tekak with a Peace
Conference. We joined with the Muslim
Solidarity Committee and marched to the
Brien Federal Building protesting the disgraceful conduct of the FBI and federal prosecution of a local Iman and a member of his
mosque. Just recently we sent the U.S.
Senate, the House Judiciary Committee and
other members of Congress a published letter
to the editor, “Bush profiting from “pimping”
his war in Iraq?”. This letter concluded by
calling for impeachment. We have been busy.
John Amidon
Chapter 16, District of Columbia
On September 15, 2007, Veterans For
Peace joined ANSWER and IVAW for the
March on Washington and at the Capital
stood face to face with Police who prevented
their forward march to redress grievances for
a illegal wars and occupations. Patrick
McCann VFP chapter 16 president kept getting bounced back but his persistence got him
over the wall and arrested. John Reuter,
Adam Kokesh and Kevin McCarron of VFP
16 were also arrested. Patrick explains the
results of the experience.
“They have picked up a rock, only to drop
it on their own foot. 2007 is the year to deepen the resistance!”
Tony Teolis
Chapter 21, Jersey City, NJ
The Alan ReillyGene Glazer chapter
The busy summer
of ‘07 came crashing to an
end in the wee hours of 15
September when our current VP
and VFP legend, Dave Cline, died at
his home in Jersey City. Much will be
written and many stories recounted by the
friends and veterans who have known Dave
Cline. At a packed funeral home in Jersey
City on the 19th the speakers were non-stop
in remembering Dave’s odyssey from army
private to pivitol leader of the veterans peace
movement. While mourning Dave’s loss, a
great spirit of re-dedication was manifest.
Elliott Adams and Michael McPhearson
expressed determination to continue the fight
against war and injustice that Dave had made
his life work. Preceding Dave in death was
Gene Glazer, who passed away in August.
Chapter 21 marched in the July 4th parade
and in the streets of Newark in August. As the
-6-
VFP 021 Chapter President Ken
Dalton speaking at a rally in
Newark, N.J. on August 25, 2007.
season changes the war goes on. The land of
the free and home of the brave increasingly
looks like the land of the paranoid and the
home of the fearful. Clearly the challenges
and responsibilities for VFP have not diminished. We of chapter 21 are planning a holiday party for November. With much to
mourn, we choose to celebrate. We have lost
Dave Cline. Though our brave point man has
fallen, inspired by him, we will march on.
Walt and Nancy Nygard
Chapter 27, MN
Chapter 27 members are still very busy
with DU legislation, still trying to get the
state of Minnesota to pay for the complete
DU test for all returning MN veterans; tabling
at many educational and recreational events;
gearing up for the upcoming SOA bus trip to
Ft. Benning; the 2008 National VFP
convention and the RNC gathering; numerous speaking
events and demonstrations
demanding the return of
our troops now.
VFP Board Member Patrick
McCann “P-Mac goes over the
top”
Photo by Bill Hackwell
Our chapter was
solicited for
participation
in the MN
Fringe
Festival in
which
Chante Wolf
contributed
her
“Chronicles
of Our
American
Conscience”
photography
and reading
Congresswoman Marcy
of poetry,
Kaptur gave a powerful
working
anti-war address at the
with Iraq
Oberlin, OH Anti-War
Veterans
Rally. She received a VFP Against the
shirt from members
War with
Michael Kay and Don
their creation
Carrol.
of a Twin
Photo by Bob Berner Cities chapter; working
with local Youth Against War and Racism;
and sponsoring and participating in a series of
events around a Minnesota 8 play production
coming this February.
Our local office remains busy with plenty
of phone calls from concerned parents, veterans and citizens about military recruitment in
the schools, veterans wanting help to get out
of the military and the state of affairs and
future bombing campaigns in the name of
Democracy. We are in the process of getting
the needed software to update our website
and add new interested people and veterans to
our mailing list and tabling opportunities.
Chante Wolf
. Chapter 47, SW PA
The struggle continues here in
Southwestern PA. The chapter held a garden
party to raise funds for IVAW on Sept. 1st.
Several members attended the Sept. 15
action in D.C.
We also had a presence on the picket line
of an End The War fast being conducted by
local allies, POG (Pittsburgh Organizing
Group) outside the recruiting office on the
University of Pittsburgh and at the POW/MIA
vigil on September 22nd at the Soldiers and
Sailors Memorial Hall in Pittsburgh.
Plans are to attend the Armistice Day
Parade being organized by the Meadville PA
chapter for Veterans Day.
David E. Thomas
Chapter 50, Northern Michigan
We are planning now for Veterans’ Day,
November 11, and the display of crosses honoring Michigan dead in Iraq, sadly now numbering 145. We are working on information
which will explain the use of crosses, and
will report on that next time.
We are planning a forum exploring setting
forth various views on the Iraq war, set for
February. We, as always, are eager to be a
peaceful presence when military recruiters are
in the area High Schools. The recruiters habit
of not supplying a schedule of their visits is
not helpful! A steering committee now
guides our chapter, is meeting monthly the
week before the regular meeting, and this is
VFP Chapter 31 marching in the 2007 Labor Day Parade in
Philadelphia. Chapter 31 is the only non-union entity in the annual
Labor Day Parade, thanks to Dave Neifeld, a Philadelphia union leader
and a deceased past president of VFP chapter 31. This year, we were
given the Number 3 spot in the parade march, behind the Teamsters
and the Fire Fighters.
-7-
Photo by John Grant
working well. Each chapter member now
has business cards with VFP emblem, name
and phone number, courtesy of a chapter
member.
John Lewis
Chapter 55, Santa Fe, NM
On June 21st our VFP Chapter sponsored a
talk at Unitarian Universalist Congregation by
Mel Goodman, Senior Fellow at the Center
for International Policy in Washington, DC
and a former CIA and State Department official. We celebrated 4 July in the Annual
Independence Day Parade in Madrid, NM.
On August 19th we co-sponsored a presentation at the Unitarian Universalist
Congregation by Quakers Eric and Jennifer
Ginsberg on GI Rights Counseling. On
August 24th we sponsored Adam Kokesh’s
(IVAW) presentation at St. Bede’s on Truth in
Recruiting. On September 13, Ken Mayers
gave a two hour lecture on “Agent Orange
and American Responsibility” to the Renesan
Institute for Lifelong Learning. Chapter members assisted KSFR, 90.7 FM in their Fall
Fund Drive. We answered phones all day on
24 September. KSFR is our local INDEPENDENT public broadcast station that supports
VFP in local events. The chapter also joined
the Albuquerque Chapter in the New Mexico
State Fair Parade in early September.
Ken Meyers
Chapter 61, St. Louis, MO
The Don Connors Chapter in St. Louis is
embarking into the field of theatre. In collaboration with two local St. Louis authors,
Chapter 61 is producing a timely and moving
play titled “Veil Of Silence”. The production
addresses the “hidden” problems often experienced by returning combat veterans.
Sensitively written and carefully researched
by the authors, Andrew Michael Neiman and
Suzanne Renard, the play dares to deal with
the effects of a war before the outcome is
known.
The play’s protagonist, Aaron, a U.S.
Marine, has recently returned home after
completing a haunting tour in Iraq. His overseas “mission accomplished,” he must now
confront an equally terrifying challenge:
resuming life as husband, father and friend as
a man irrevocably changed by his tour. At
the patient urging of his wife, Amy, Aaron
begins to share his experiences. Instead of
relieving him of his pain, however, facing
these traumatic events head-on further torments Aaron, testing his psychological fortitude as well as the love of the woman closest
to him.
The play will be presented at the Black Cat
Theatre, 2810 Sutton Blvd., Maplewood, MO
63143 (a suburb of St. Louis)
Info and tickets 314-3154-5129.
VeilOfSilence@gmail.com.
Any proceeds above the cost of production
will be donated to the Iraq Water Project. If
other chapters wish to produce this play,
please contact The Don Connors Chapter:
vfpch61@riseup.net or 314-754-2651.
Charles T. Smith
Chapter 63, Albuquerque, MN
The Albuquerque chapter marched in the
New Mexico State Fair parade, to a surpris-
Miss Liberty (Donna Anderson)
enchained by lies, war, fear, and torture in the Chapter 100 4th of July
Parade Float.
Photo by Deborah Smith
ingly positive response in
this military industrial
city.
Another Side, a project
of Veterans For Peace and
the Albuquerque Center
for Peace and Justice, has
completed a booklet entitled “After High School:
Your Life, Your World,
Your Future”, a resource
guide for statewide New
Mexico.
It is available to youth
of New Mexico. The
research and writing was
Western Washington chapter 92’s Arlington.
primarily done by an assoPhoto by Cliff Wells.
ciate member of the chappower in the offices of the President and
ter, Maria Santelli, assisted by chapter memVice-President,
ber Max Will. Another Side is now embarking on a study to document race and class dis•Engaged in torture in violation of our own
crimination in recruitment practices.
laws and international treaties (a practice
shamefully supported by our own Senator Ted
Sally-Alice Thompson
Stevens.)”
Chapter 92, WA
Making the point, the Chapter prepared a
Chapter 92 has established a War Resisters
float for the parade, consisting of Lady
Support Action Team providing support and
Liberty enchained by the shackles of lies and
information to those resisting or considering
torture and war. As the float drove slowly
resisting from within the military. A fund has
down the streets of the capital, more than 250
been established and small sums donated to
citizens joined with the VFP, expressing their
this effort, and a successful fund raising event
opposition to the war and demanding an end.
was organized for Augustin Augayo.
The Independence Day parade was a high
Currently, a regional gathering for networking
spot
in a busy year for the Chapter, including
and brainstorming between several groups
a
major
rally on the steps of the Capitol
providing support to resisters is being planned
Building
in downtown Juneau, a welcoming
for later in the fall.
rally for peace and justice on behalf of The
Mary Crane
Nation magazine on the occasion of its visit
Chapter 100, Alaska
to Juneau in August, a major art show, reading of the names, and other activities to make
When the Independence Day celebration
sure that the imperative of peace remained
planners in Alaska’s capital city decided that
the 2007 parade theme was to be “Freedom is paramount in the public view.
Not Free,” the members of Veterans For
Phil Smith
Peace Chapter 100 rose to the occasions.
Chapter 105, Baltimore, MD
“Freedom is not free; indeed, she isn’t,”
Members of Baltimore Phil Berrigan
declared the Chapter. “Our freedoms have
Memorial Chapter 105 have busily participatbeen shackled by fear, by torture, by lies, and
ed in the many area and Washington, DC,
by war.” In a letter to the local newspaper,
peace events this summer and early fall, and
Chapter President Phil Smith commented:
plans for upcoming ones. Most exciting is the
“Indeed, freedom is not free. Consider – in
growing relationship with the second active
just the last 6 years our government has:
duty chapter of Iraq Veterans against the War
•suspended the right of habeas corpus for
at Ft. Meade, MD. Before a showing of “Sir!,
those allegedly guilty of certain behaviors and No Sir!” featuring speakers from Ft. Meade
beliefs,
IVAW, Balto VFP participated in a strategy
meeting with IVAW members and local
•Authorized wiretapping of U.S. citizens
activist youth.
without judicial oversight or review,
•Shielded administration officials from confronting their critics by herding dissenting citizens into “free speech zones,” thus insuring
that their voices would not be heard,
•Grossly abused the separation of powers
doctrine by unconstitutionally concentrating
-8-
2008 being the 40th anniversary of the
Catonsville 9 Viet Nam draft file burning
action, a major series of events are being
planned to honor chapter namesake Phil
Berrigan and the others next May. A visit with
a Nicaraguan veteran and the January Martin
Luther King Jr. parade are other future events
on the calendar. And the Baltimore Area
Truth in Recruiting Coalition, with VFP being
an active member, is getting active again after
a hiatus.
Ellen Barfield
Chapter 118, Salt Lake City
January 27, 2007- Rick Miller spoke at an
anti-war forum attended by over 500 and
received a standing ovation.
Feb 6- Dr. Robert Littlehale (Patrobas),
Larry Chadwick and Rick Miller visited a history class at Salt Lake Community College to
talk on their experiences in Vietnam.
Feb 15- Sara Rich joined Chapter 118
member Cecily Light and G.I. Rights Hotline
counselor Trish Withus for a forum about
women in the military at Utah Valley State
College in Orem and the Salt Lake City
Library.
Feb 16-The annual awards dinner was
held with guest Sara Rich presenting the
associate award to Debbie Johnson, education
activist to (Patrobas) and activist of the year
to Rick Miller.
March 1-Welcomed former VVAW
activist and current President of Veterans for
America Bobby Muller to Utah Valley State
College in Orem, Utah. Chapter 118 tabled at
the event.
March 19-Led nearly 1,000 in 4th
anniversary of the war march and rally.
April 26- Stood vigil at the entrance to
Brigham Young University while VP Dick
Cheney addressed graduates.
July-15
Tabled at the
MFSO sponsored movie
“My Child,
Mothers of
War.”
G.I. Rights
Hotline- 27
calls: facilitated
two AWOL
turn-ins to Ft.
Sill PCF.
Talked one soldier out of
going AWOL,
now working
on Chapter 5
discharge.
Helped two
young men and
two young
women get
Veterans now fighting for Peace: A portrait of VFP members
out of the
Chuck Butler (l.) and Glen Burke (r.) of chapter 129, Pueblo, CO,
delayed entry
was published in the Pueblo Chieftain in September 2007.
program.
participated in a demonstration to demand deVeterans Outreach- gave out 50 packets of
funding of the Iraq war/occupation and an
VA info, enrolled one vet in system, counimmediate withdrawal of U.S. forces.
seled three Vietnam vets on filing for compensation/disability. Referred Iraq war vet to
Vet Center in Provo, Utah for counseling on
PTSD. Passed out 5 SF 180’s to request veterans DD-214’s. Counseled two Iraq war vets
on filing for compensation for PTSD.
Aaron Davis
Chapter 132, Corvallis, OR
In June we sponsored a public showing of
the PBS film series “A
Force More Powerful”
over a period of four
weeks. The community
was invited to view the
film and participate in a
facilitated discussion.
www.aforcemorepowerful.org.
VFP Chapter 138 Facilitator, Thomas Brinson, and family
members look on as Beth Gabellini gives Congressman
Steve Isreal’s letter to Cathy Heighter, Mother of Spec
Raheen Tyson Heighter, the first Long Islander killed in
the Iraq War.
-9-
Our chapter participated in the local 4th of July
parade, sponsored a
“Peace” booth at the
Benton County Oregon
Fair and the Oregon State
University Community
Fair. We also provided
financial sponsorship of a
community children’s
event, “Pinwheels for
Peace.”
At a recent visit by
Congresswoman Darlene
Hooley to Corvallis, several chapter members
Some members have become involved with
the establishment of a local men’s homeless
shelter, and Iraq refugee assistance.
Leah Bolger
Chapter 138, Long Island, NY
On July 24, 2007, Chapter 138 was officially renamed the Raheen Tyson Heighter
Memorial Chapter after the first Long Island
service member killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The ceremony took place in the village gazebo of Bay Shore, NY, where Raheen grew up
and attended high school.
Family members, including his mother,
Catherine, whom Chapter 138 flew up to
Long Island from her home in Florida, friends
and local political officers were in attendance
along with members of Veterans For Peace. A
proclamation was given to the family by Islip
Town Supervisor Phil Nolan, honoring Pine
Aire Drive, the street where Raheen lived his
short life, as Raheen Tyson Heighter Drive. A
proclamation was also received from Suffolk
County Executive, Steve Levy.
Beth Gabellini, a representative from
Congressman Steve Israel’s office, read a
beautiful statement issued by the congressman that included this statement:
“Once again, I am proud to commend the
Veterans For Peace, Chapter 138 in their
commitment to finding nonviolent alternatives to conflict and for honoring Long
Island’s first fallen hero of this war in a way
that reflects the decency, warmth, and hope of
humanity.”
Members have been most active the last
several weeks in resistance actions against the
war in Iraq to include vigils, the September
15th ANSWER March and Die-In in
Washington, DC, The IVAW vigil in Congress
on September 20th, and the World Can’t Wait
ARREST BUSH action on September 25th
when Bush addressed the General Assembly
of the United Nations.
Thomas Brinson
Chapter 151
Taking a stand in Far West Texas for
Impeachment
In July Big Bend Veterans For Peace,
Chapter 151, initiated a weekly HONK TO
IMPEACH action in Alpine, Texas, population 6,000. This fall we expanded the action
to include twice a month demonstrations in
another small town, Marfa, Texas, population
2,200, 26 miles west of Alpine.
We are a small chapter, 11 of us, chartered
in August of 2007, covering three large counties in a remote rural area near the TexasMexico border. In a region dominated by cultural conservatism and living in small towns
where it seems like everyone knows each
other, we’ve had to struggle with our fears
about losing friends and jobs if we speak out
publicly.
There has been some polarization and there
have been moments of confrontation but our
peace community has grown. Big Bend citi-
Chapter 151’s Honk to Impeach
zens, including other veterans, have come to
stand with us and hold banners, marveling
that there are others who share their beliefs.
Previously isolated people now work with
us to make papercrete tombstones, paint
them, and help clear catclaw from two rangeland acres for our regional Arlington memorial. At this time 349 tombstones represent the
number of Texan military men and women
who have died in Iraq.
Big Bend Veterans For Peace invite you to
join us in dedicating Arlington Southwest (4
miles east of Alpine, Texas, on U.S. Hwy 90),
November 11, 2007, Veterans’ Day.
Alpine is 55 miles south of I-10 and 100
miles north of Big Bend National Park.
November can be one of the best months for
visiting and camping. For information, call
Big Bend Veterans For Peace at 432-8377150 or email pcschaefer@yahoo.com
Eve Trook and Paul Schaefer
###
By leaving a bequest to Veterans For Peace, you will create a legacy that will benefit others for generations to come.
If you have already included Veterans For Peace into your bequest, we hope that you wil share this information with
us. While we recommend that you meet with your own estate attorney or financial advisor to determine the method of
giving that best suits your individual needs,
Please call the National Office and let us express our gratitude. Your wishes for anonymity will be respected.
Here’s how you can be part of the
Legacy:
•Consider using assets for your
charitable gift.
•Prepare a will. Only 50% of those
who pass have one.
•Name VFP as the beneficiary of
your IRA or pension account.
•Leave a gift for Veterans For Peace.
Less than 3% of all wills contain a
charitable provision.
•Name VFP as the beneficiary of a
life insurance policy.
-10-
Support the mission of Veterans For
Peace to create a sustainable future
for generations to come. For more
information call out office in St.
Louis at 314-725-6005.
Weekend of Solidarity to end the War and Occupation
In Kennebunkport, Maine
By Jamilla El-Shafei
The Kennebunks Peace Department
Although President Bush chose vacationing
in Crawford,Texas over Kennebunkport,
Maine, more than 4,000 protesters were not
deterred from descending on the tiny Seaside
community. The anti-war event described as a
“Weekend of Solidarity to End the War”
spanned three days starting on August 24th,
featuring two encampments at nearby farms.
The encampments were created to provide
people with an opportunity to network, share
their organization’s strategy to end the war and
provide people with an opportunity to meet the
Iraq Veterans from IVAW as well as have some
fun. The encampments serve to strengthen the
anti-war movement, as there is not a more convincing case for why we need to get out of Iraq
than the one which comes right from the
mouths of recent veterans.
The protest was scheduled to precede
General Petraeus’ report on Iraq and before the
vote of the next supplemental funding bill. It
was also an attempt to strengthen and broaden
the campaign to end the war. To quote Ron
Jacobs, columnist from Counter Punch, “The
weekend of protest represents the opening
salvo in what needs to be a re-energized campaign to end the war.”
The ultimate goal of the weekend was to
link up various movements with the IVAW
and build for the Northeast Regional anti-war
mobilization, called by UFPJ, on October
27Th in Boston. Allies from labor, health care,
social Justice, and environmental movements
were invited to join peace activists and concerned citizens in an effort to stop the war and
occupation of Iraq.
The centerpiece of the weekend was the
two-part rally and march to the Bush family
compound. The rally had an impressive, allstar line up of speakers including Veteran for
Peace envoy retired Colonel Ann Wright.
Other Veteran for Peace members included
Bruce Gagnon and Doug Rawlings with messages of converting the war machine to peaceful production.
Iraq Veteran and IVAW. co-founder Liam
Madden spoke to thunderous applause. He
encouraged citizens to support GI resistance,
which is a crucial ingredient in the anti-war
struggle. The importance of the presence of the
Iraq Veterans in educating the public about
their work and GI resistance cannot be over
stated.
including Presidential candidate, Congressman
Dennis Kucinich and former Congresswoman
Cynthia McKinney, along with peace activist
Cindy Sheehan who urged people to hold their
legislators accountable.
The march was led by Iraq Veterans and
Veterans For Peace followed by Gold Star
Family members and Military Families Speak
Out which made a powerful visual statement.
Spectators cheered and gave a “thumbs up”
along the march route, which was surprising in
this overwhelmingly Republican Summer
enclave.
The presence of the Iraq Veterans and
Veterans For Peace standing against the war is
compelling. In solidarity with committed citizens, we are becoming a more formidable
power to stop the war machine and end the war
profiteering.
We need to participate in more actions like
this, where the people in power feel the power
of the people, ultimately to affect change.
###
This was a very spirited march as a greater
percentage of college students participated
than had been seen in the recent past. The
young people added a lot of energy!
Protesters marched up Ocean Avenue
towards the Bush family compound past mansions owned by the CEOs who are profiting
from the war. “Birds of a feather flock together,” and most of the summer residences have
been built during the past six years of the Bush
administration by oil money and profits made
by the military-industrial complex.
Marching past the vulgar display of wealth
We need to participate
in more actions like this,
where the people in
power feel the power of
the people, ultimately to
affect change.
graphically illustrates what most of us already
know: the needy are paying for the greedy with
our lives and resources. Human needs, health
care, affordable education all go unfunded
while our tax dollars fund a war for oil and
empire, which allows the war profiteers to live
like kings.
While the war profiteers dine on lobster and
fine wine, Iraq is disintegrating into something
resembling “hell on earth.” Should war crimi nals and war profiteers be allowed to escape
for a quiet vacation, removing themselves
from the daily reminders of the horrific consequences of their decisions?
I think not, and feel it is important to organize and march to deliver our message directly
to the people in power, who make the insane
policies, and to those who profit from them,
especially while they are on vacation.
The pre-march rally featured special guests
Top: VFP Board member Michael Uhl
with members of IVAW
Middle: Tabling at the Weekend of
Solidarity.
Bottom: The Raging Grannies
Photos by Susan Connery
-11-
Hugo Chavez In Mister Danger’s Gunsights
By John Grant
The Bush administration’s relationship with
Venezuela is looking more and more like the
same old shameful history of intervention. As in
Guatemala 1954 and Chile 1973, the US has set
its sights on a legitimately elected, reform government. To understand this better, I recently
spent three weeks in Venezuela.
A drive from the airport through Caracas — a
city of five million built on rolling hills —
reveals a city of two distinct worlds living in precarious balance. There are tall buildings made of
glass and concrete with all the amenities of a
nation with one of the largest oil and gas reserves
in the world. Then there are great, sweeping hillsides of ranchos, or shanties, piled one upon the
other.
The power of President Hugo Chavez resides
in these vast poor barrios. The poor in Venezuela
outnumber the rich, and, unlike in The United
States, they turn out and vote in large numbers.
Following the downfall of the brutal dictator
Juan Vincente Gomez in 1935, oil-rich
Venezuela evolved into a model of free-market
democracy, a system in which democracy is confused with capitalism. In 1989, President Carlos
Andres Perez made an unpopular deal with the
IMF that sent prices skyrocketing, resulting in
riots and the death of thousands. Out of this,
came the more participatory democracy that now
torments the Bush administration.
It all began in 1992 when a young Lieutenant
Colonel Hugo Chavez led an audacious coup
against Perez. Though extremely popular, the
coup failed and Chavez was sent to prison.
When Perez was impeached and fled the country
two years later, Chavez was released.
In 1998, he ran and won election as president.
After a constitution change, he ran again in 2000
and won a seven-year term. Thanks to citizen
outcry, he survived a coup in 2002. Unclassified
documents show the Bush administration knew
every detail about the coup before it happened.
The US immediately recognized Pedro
Carmona, a business leader, as the new “president.” But the military refused to put down the
thousands of citizens who took to the streets in
protest. Carmona is now in exile in Colombia.
Chavez won a referendum vote in 2004. He
survived a 63-day general strike organized by
opposition business leaders. Both these efforts
received millions of dollars from US State
Department entities. Two months after the bungled coup, for example, the US created something called the Office For Transition Initiatives,
which was allocated $5 million for 2005. OTI
offices, according to the State Department, are
designed “to overcome the significant challenges
posed by war-torn or otherwise unstable countries.”
But is Venezuela “war torn” or “unstable?”
Or, in an Orwellian fashion, are efforts like the
OTI and a host of other entities actually intended
to foment instability?
Early this year, Chavez handily won re-election against the conservative governor of
Maracaibo. All these elections were monitored
and declared clean, the latest by Jimmy Carter
and the OAS.
So why is Hugo Chavez so demonized by the
Bush administration? The obvious answer is the
potent combination of oil and Chavez’s political
identification with the usually ignored interests
of the poor.
While in Venezuela, a friend and I had the
good fortune to appear on Chavez’s Sunday TV
show, Alo Presidente. In a studio within
Miraflores, the historic white palace in Caracas,
before an audience of ambassadors, dignitaries
from Africa, legislators from Colombia and an
assortment of invited guests, Chavez sat behind a
small desk covered with notebooks, maps and
other props and, in an ebullient and generous
manner, held command of the show for – I am
not kidding – seven hours and 43 minutes. It was
a performance of incredible stamina and intelligence. As a Chavista friend put it to me,
“Chavez is a sponge.”
The theme of the show was the “integration”
of the nations from the Rio Grande south to
Tierra Del Fuego, the re-animated dream of
Chavez’s mentor Simon Bolivar. Chavez especially wants to change the historic relationship
with the US. He likes to say clever and barbed
things; for instance, in a UN speech, he famously referred to George Bush as The Devil and
Senor Peligro, Mister Danger, a reference to a
comic character in Venezuelan literature.
The opposition to Chavez has shot itself in the
foot so many times (with US help) it is now fragmented. And the anti-Chavistas I spoke with
never suggested Chavez used repressive methods; rather, the arguments were like those heard
here against welfare or affirmative action, such
as, Chavez gives money away to the poor and
doesn’t encourage work.
A Venezuelan doctor who claimed to be neutral cited a clear improvement in the delivery of
public health. Over 25,000 Cuban doctors and
small clinics have been introduced into the barrios. I saw several of the adult education classes
that have sprung up in barrios everywhere.
Chavez truly seems to empower the poor of
Venezuela; and they apparently love it when he
gives Bush the finger. In this sense, Mister
Danger has helped Chavez immeasurably by
being the consummate blundering imperialist.
The elimination of term limits will be voted on in
a referendum in December, which would put
Venezuela on par with France and other democratic nations without term limits.
Future leaders in Washington would be wise to
re-think Hugo Chavez. He has been honestly
elected four times and is by any standard the
legitimate leader of Venezuela until 2014. The
days are over of the US bamboozling a nation
with a coup like it did in Guatemala in 1954 or
encouraging a murderous takeover as it did in
Chile in 1973 or forming a guerrilla opposition
army like it did in Nicaragua in the 1980s. In the
age of the internet and cell phones, Venezuelans
will not allow that sort of thing.
Candidate Hillary Clinton was asked would
she speak with Hugo Chavez, and she reportedly
answered she would not. That is just stupid.
Frank discussion is critical to avoiding the violent and exploitative confrontations of the past.
Currently Chavez is talking with Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe about an exchange of
prisoners with the FARC rebels in Colombia.
If Uribe can talk with Chavez, so can we.
John Grant as guest on Hugo
Chavez's weekly radio show.
Clinic of a Cuban doctor at the base of
another barrio; the doctor lives
upstairs and the clinic is downstairs.
-12-
John Grant is a Vietnam veteran and a member of VFP Philadelphia Area Chapter 31. It
was trips to Nicaragua and El Salvador in the
1980s that turned him into a peace activist.
P O E T R Y
Peace March
January 27th, 2007
DC was like
a pilgrimage
through the
night tunnel
9:45PM — 7AM
when we spilled out
of Union Station to
the sacred tableaux
of the Capitol
down the mall
to the Wall
{True peace is not
merely the absence
of tension; it is
the presence
of justice: MLK}
Crossing Liberty St,
(I think it was)
I got Mick Jaggered,
given the full armed
finger by a speeder,
sharp-eyed enough to
see my Out Of Iraq sign.
But this was still in the
almost frosty 8AM air.
By 11AM there were
some thousands of
folk and we found one
A Native Son
of those old folks’ park
benches. We clapped
for the original signs
that passed by.
As a native son my heroes were
Soldiers, sailors, and marines
Of World War II who came by on their
Way to take back the Philippines.
{MLK was killed soon
after publicly equating
racism with war and
calling for peace}
When other bad guys took some land
South of the 38th in Korea,
By 1PM an
enormous crowd had
engulfed us and
we stood with some
Vets for a time. I was
still a bit claustrophobic,
so we worked our way
out around the head
of the parade to the
Senate office steps
and breathing room
where we cheered till
3 then hurried
to the train.
I volunteered to serve as an airman.
I could not stand to see a
Tyrannical government violate an agreement
Made for the divided occupation
Of a land liberated by the heroes we had sent.
Instead of going to Korea and the Orient,
Orders were cut for my designated station,
And off to Germany I was sent.
A member of a different divided occupation.
There I became friends with former enemy,
Many were refugees from the eastern side.
Who fled from the sadistic hordes of the Red Army
To the City of Dresden, there to abide.
Air Marshall Arthur Harris, known for his bombing,
Authorized the Fire Bombing Of Dresden
killing thousands of these like an inferno descending.
It felt like Easter
duty and I’d just come
from confession
and communion
and anything was
possible, even peace.
Peter Schofield
Schofield, from South Boston,
was a US Army Mopic photographer, Korea 1969-70.
SCHOLARS AND BOURGEOIS
by Peter Maurin
The scholar has told the bourgeois
that a worker is a man for all that.
But the bourgeois has told the
scholar
that a worker is a commodity for
all that.
Because the scholar has vision,
the bourgeois calls him a visionary.
So the bourgeois laughs at the
scholar's vision
and the worker is left without
vision.
And the worker left by the
scholar without vision
talks about liquidating
both the bourgeois and the scholar.
The scholars must tell the workers
what is wrong
with the things as they are.
The scholars must tell the workers
how a path can be made
from the things as they are
to the things as they should be.
The scholars must collaborate
with the workers
in making a path
from the things as they are
to the things
as they should be. The scholars
must become workers
so the workers may be scholars.
The war we fought in the Korean Theater, Oh My God,
Over 36,000 of ours died with more than 92,000 wounded.
They called the war won when we got back to the38th isn’t
that odd?
But, at least the warriors were honored.
But Nam! Oh Nam! The pride of our youth
Forced to go to Hell by bloody handed politicians.
They fought, died, and hurt, while protesters so uncouth,
Protested the warriors while ignoring the Patrician
Leaders who lived in opulence and abundance
Even as making personal fortunes based on the destruction
Of the lives, honor, and innocence of military Grunts.
And now this war of prejudice and hate on both sides,
Instigated by the rich and powerful for the wealthy financiers,
Sucks the moral structure of all into oblivion and derides
The essence of honor that is instilled in each of our soldiers.
-13-
Unlike the worst of the worst of the wars of the past,
This war has the underlying objective of destroying
All of the freedoms that our heroes died to make last.
And everyone of them, wherever they are, must be crying.
To see how we have wasted the energy, pain, and lives
That they gave for the freedom of today’s generations,
Leaving only our failure, indifference, and guilt to survive.
James Huetson
Commentary
To the Irish Americans Who Fought the Vietnam War
By Dave Connolly
In the moans of the dying Viet Cong, from
my GranDa’s tales, the Bahn Sidhe.
In the calmness of prisoners who were
shot for spite, the brave James Connolly.
In the hit and run of those we fought, the
“Flying Columns” of the IRA.
In Tet, so unmistakably, that fateful
Easter day.
In the leaflets we found in farmer’s huts,
the Proclamation of Pearse.
In all the senseless acts of racist hate, I
felt the growing fears.
In the murder of unarmed peasants, with
our modern technology,
we became the hated Black and Tans, and
we shamed our ancestry.
Note: The Bahn Sidhe, Banshee in modern
Irish, are the fairy people believed to inhabit
the ancient burial mounds of Ireland; they are
the spirit of death whom you will hear wail at
the moment of your own death.
How many Irish-Americans understand this
poem that I wrote long ago? And how many
could relate it to the events in Iraq today? It’s
a fine thing to gather on the 17th of March,
hoist a pint or two, sing old rebel songs and
celebrate our heritage, but do you know our
heritage? This Saint Patrick’s Day, in the
midst of another failed war, should be a time
for reflection, a time to examine what this generation of our people are going through again
as soldiers occupying and trying to tame
another nation of people who do not want us
there.
When I was a boy, I would often sit with my
Grand Da, Coley Connolly, and listen to his
stories of Ireland, especially his stories of “The
Rising” and of “The Troubles” which followed
it. After his death, I kept up the conversation
with my Nana, gleaning information about our
heritage which they were both so proud of.
Coley would tell me of the boys of the Irish
Volunteers, those who became the Irish
Republican Army, how they strained under the
boot of the Crown until they could take it no
more and rebelled. He told me of how he and
his comrades had to leave their homes and go
“on the run” to join up with one of the “Flying
Columns” to escape capture and imprisonment, or worse, death, for the dastardly crime
of being Irish and wanting freedom. Coley told
me of James Connolly, Padraic Pearse, Tom
Clarke and the rest, their valiant, hopeless
stand of Easter Week; how, with only small
arms, 1500 Irish men, women, and children
faced nearly 40,000 British troops, with their
Maxim guns, tanks and gunboats; how the
leaders were heartlessly murdered by the
Crown after their surrender. He spoke of the
guerrilla war that followed, the Black and Tan
War as he called it, of how savage it became,
how ruthless the British irregulars, “the Black
and Tans” were, as these mercenaries were
called, these released convicts and “cashiered”
British soldiers, when they were set loose on
the Irish towns and countryside.
I was only nineteen and a
dumb Grunt, but the truth
of what I was doing hit me
harder than the rocketpropelled grenade shrapnel
that tore into me months
later.
My Nana also told her stories. She spoke of
how the “Tans” would come through the villages and towns, always at night, and “tumble
out houses.” Sometimes they’d molest the
women, regardless of their age, terrorize the
children whom they called “nits who would
someday be lice,” arrest, beat, and carry away
fathers and sons on trumped up warrants, or
with no warrants, bayonet ceilings, walls, beds
and hayricks looking for the young volunteers
of the IRA on the run, men like my Grand Da.
My grandparents shared one story that came
to haunt me as a young man and which I carry
still. It was about the Black and Tans, not the
Tommies, the regular soldiers of the “British
F*%#ing Army” as Coley always referred to
them. My grandparents great hatred was
reserved for the Tans. They told of how the
Tans would surround a village or a city block,
move in, searching each house for arms,
ammunition or foodstuffs that looked out of
proportion for the number of those living
there. If they found any of those things, the
males of the house were arrested (read here
that they were carried off, tortured and maybe
murdered) and the house was burned to the
ground. If this was so in a number of houses,
there might ensue a wanton burning of houses;
whole towns like Skibbereen, Tuam, Trim,
Balbriggan, Thurles, Templemore and many
others were burned, and blocks and blocks of
cities, like Cork were also burned, at whim, for
revenge, because the Black and Tans felt they
had the right, and knew they had the might, to
do so.
-14-
In the service of my country, in the footsteps
of Coley and my own Da, I also went to war.
As a nineteen year old infantryman in
Vietnam, it was my job to participate in
“search and cordon, search and destroy missions”, where we would surround a village,
move in and search hootch to hootch for arms,
ammunition or foodstuffs out of proportion for
the number of people living there. Sound
familiar? If we found any of those things, the
adults from that house were handed over to the
ARVNs (the soldiers of the Army of the
Republic of South Vietnam) who were
assigned to us. These people were put on our
Huey helicopters under arrest (again, read here
that they were carried off, tortured, sometimes
raped if they were female, and maybe murdered). The villages we terrorized, and sometimes “zippoed” if we found contraband, were
filled with women, old men and children, for
their menfolk were “on the run” like Coley
was back so long ago, fighting against the foreign invaders of their hamlet or village. Again,
sound familiar?
I was only nineteen and a dumb Grunt, but
the truth of what I was doing hit me harder
than the rocket-propelled grenade shrapnel that
tore into me months later. In light of my heritage, as hard as it was to face it, I had to admit
I was fighting on the wrong side. I was the
grandson of a proud revolutionary who had
freed most of his country from the Crown, and
the son of a man who lost the use of his arm
helping to free the world of Hitler and Tojo,
yet my loyalty and love of this country made
me a Black and Tan in Vietnam. The killings
of civilians perpetrated by the Tans long ago in
Belfast and Derry and those of Bloody Sunday
at Croke Park where civilians at a football
match were machine-gunned as revenge for an
IRA ambush elsewhere, were a presage of the
slaughter at My Lai, where lack of leadership
and our military might, gave young men the
feeling the had the “right” to kill women, chil-
VFP DELEGATES ATTEND 2007 UN NGO CONFERENCE
CLIMATE CHANGE: HOW IT IMPACTS US ALL
by Ellen Barfield
senting all the people of the Pacific
Continent.’ I think, the Pacific Continent? The
Pacific is an ocean! He goes on, ‘We are
many people, in many nations, spread across
many islands, big and small.’ And I realize
again how small my view is.
VFP attendees at the 2007 UN Conference
of Non-Governmental Organizations were
Executive Director Michael McPhearson,
President Elliott Adams, Head UN
Representative Ellen Barfield, Alternate UN
Rep Al Jaccoma, and Iraq Veterans Against
the War member Michael Embrich.
This, the last UN NGO Conference to be
held in the New York UN Headquarters for
the next few years, provided a fountain of
information on looming climate change. In
fact, the first roundtable session, titled
“Climate Change:The Scientific Evidence”
was the best UN panel discussion I have ever
heard, over many years of attending panels of
high level international talking heads.
Madagascan, Chinese, and US scientists
not only PowerPointed the current understanding of the phenomenon, but showed the
growing scientific consensus over time. They
reported that 40 feet of sea level rise is
already unavoidable, and could be as much as
200 feet. And even if we stopped any further
carbon dioxide emissions right now, it would
be at least 20 years and more likely 40 or 50
before we notice improvement.
The reason for moving the NGO conferences, next year to Paris, is the coming $1.88
billion renovation of the whole New York UN
compound over a 7 year period. As Alternate
VFP Representative to the UN Al Jaccoma
notes, “ The U.N. is ... an ecological nightmare in the process of being repaired.
Asbestos abatement and a general upgrading
of the building with environmentally friendly
materials is in the works.”
Irish Americans continued on page 14
dren, and old men. And, believe me, My Lai
was not the only My Lai. Despite what I felt
or did in my war, despite the fact that I never
shot at anyone who was not under arms,
never tortured a prisoner, never raped, I saw
all of that happen and lived with the stench of
my country’s betrayal that put me in such a
place.
You might think or say that I don’t “support the troops” speaking like this. On the
contrary, I was one of the troops not “supported” in Vietnam, fighting in the middle of
another civil war, and our government then
had no plan for an end to hostilities except to
kill more “Gooks” as the Vietnamese were
called then. To the Tans, the Irish were
Though the panel presentations were more
interesting than usual, as always the abundance of mid-day interactive workshops presented by NGO’s were the best part of the
conference. There, small groups can meet and
discuss specific topics and exchange information on how to work together.
Again, Al Jaccoma comments, “So many
workshops and so little time! So many languages (and dialects) and so many bi, tri, and
quadrolingual people. It’s enough to make an
undereducated New York ‘kid’ feel inadequate and out of place. I was most impressed
with the Indigenous Peoples presentations.
After being shut out of the conversation for
so long by the corporate media their message
was clear: ‘Stop before it’s too late. Respect
the earth!’ People from the Arctic Circle to
the Rain Forests came to the conference without charts, graphs and fancy PowerPoint presentations to speak from the heart. In many
cases these are the marginalized people who
will have to bear the brunt of the first effects
of climate change.”
VFP President Elliott Adams notes, “Sitting
in the UN I hear a man translated from his
native language saying, ‘I come here repre“Bloody Fenians.” Now those in the
crosshairs are “Hadjis.” If you fight just to
kill, I ask you, can you be right?
No number of yellow ribbons can take the
place of an exit strategy, a true search for a
diplomatic end to this horror our nation is
experiencing, the body bags full of lives cut
short for nothing gained. To “support the
troops” we must stop the misuse of the
troops. These brave young men and women
now in harm’s way deserve more than to be
the pawns our government has made them.
Please think about what I have said. Please
raise your voice for an end to this wanton
waste of the best of our country. And may
God Bless America.
###
-15-
IVAW member Michael Embrich said,
“The workshops I attended opened my eyes
to new global concerns I didn’t even know
existed. Particularly the military projects
directed at controlling weather patterns and
storms. (“The Wild Cards in Climate Change:
Weather Warfare, Geo-engineering and
Environmental Modification” {ENMOD})
The lecture about that topic blew my mind!”
Coming from the conference, Elliott Adams
observed how the once and future visions of
the UN remain alive. “The UN is quite a contrast from when I visited as a kid. Then it was
a new building with a dramatic new design,
and it was the shining hope for a new world
of peace. Now ,, there are water stains on the
wall, ,, the UN’s reputation has been sullied,
the power holders have succeeded in subverting it. But where else can people come
together and talk about their needs without
that simple but momentous barrier of language? And if we cannot talk, how can we
find peace?
The massive rehabbing of the UN complex
has begun. Could this be a metaphor for
rehabbing the UN as an institution for peace?
As we the people stop this war and turn the
US away from empire, we open the door
again for a UN that is democratic and is the
shining hope of peace.”
###
Book Review
Vietnam Awakening by Michael Uhl
the scene being service in the Vietnam War,
the scene being the “awakening” of a soldier
to the immorality of the war he has served in,
and the scene being the heady atmosphere of
organizing protests against that very war.
And, of course, the scene being right now as we confront another war machine gone
mad, devouring our soldiers and innocent
civilians alike.
After years spent reading about a war that
I, too, served in and then fought against, I
have to say that this memoir rings true. Very
true. And I’d also say that we who are living
in these times and who are actively protesting
this latest war should take Uhl’s piercing
accounts of life within the anti-war movement of the Vietnam War days to heart. He
has not only shone the spotlight on some of
the Vietnam War resistance movement’s most
important players, but he’s also meticulously
detailed their successes and their missteps.
Consider this memoir to be a blueprint for
today’s serious anti-war activists.
Paperback: 263 pages
Publisher: McFarland & Company
Price: $29.95
by Doug Rawling
Michael Uhl has written a memoir, VIETNAM AWAKENING, that will one day stand
alongside the “must-reads” crammed onto the
bookshelves of academics, veterans, and students of history. Uhl has not only mastered
the memoir form, but he has also used it to
insert his reader directly into the eye of the
anti-war storm that engulfed America during
the late sixties and early seventies.
A person who writes, and then publishes,
a memoir has to have real chutzpah. I mean,
after all, don’t most of us ask ourselves this
question about our lives: “who cares?” Who
cares if I turn right or left at this or that particular intersection in life? Close family, of
course. But if our lives are not seen as integral parts of a compelling life narrative of
some import, we might as well stick to our
diaries or our analysts’ couches. And rightfully so. But when a person like Uhl arrives on
the scene, we better take notice: the scene
being America in the mid-sixties, the scene
being the anguish overcoming a young man
in America facing the stark realities of war,
A memoirist had also better take into
account his or her intended audience. In this
case, Michael Uhl’s VIETNAM AWAKENING is written for multiple audiences: most
importantly, if you’re a Vietnam war veteran
and a member of VFP, this book will resonate
for you in waves and waves of recollection we can all vicariously recognize ourselves
throughout this narrative (I, for one , was
swamped by memories of being a soldier in
Vietnam at one moment, while later, caught
up in berating myself for not being the courageous and outraged veteran that Uhl became
after hitting stateside). But this book
deserves an even wider audience — it will
What I particularly like
about Uhl’s account is its
honesty.
prove to be a compelling read for anyone
who has been a peace activist over the years
or just recently entered the fray against the
Iraq War; and it definitely belongs on the
book shelves of any serious historian interested in what America was becoming in the sixties and seventies. Likewise, I’d say that it
has real value for today’s college students
who are interested in what real activism looks
like.
What I particularly like about Uhl’s
account is its honesty. Sure, the author
sometimes waxes a bit effusively about the
importance of an event in our collective history and sometimes his role in it, but, damn
-16-
it, he is a player of
some importance and
these events were
significant. But
what’s really
admirable is how this
particular memoirist
weaves together both
objective fact and
subjective musings. A memoirist had better
have his or her facts right or credibility is out
the window. He does. And the excursion
through the author’s reflections better also
mean something to someone besides a spouse
or a shrink. It does. Uhl shines here: his
scholarship is impeccable (I’ve never enjoyed
nor appreciated a set of footnotes more) and
his alternatively self-deprecating and selfcongratulatory reflections strike exactly the
right tone. He has a right to be proud of his
role in the anti-war movement, and he certainly can be assured that his part in ending
that miserable war in Vietnam was a critical
one.
Michael Uhl’s account of veterans publicly avowing the war crimes that they committed or witnessed is unflinching and meticulously detailed. As we read this account we
become more and more appreciative of their
efforts to bring that war to a halt and save
their fellow brothers-in-arms as well as the
Vietnamese people. VIETNAM AWAKENING is both necessary as an historical document and also as a topical paradigm for present-day resistors to war. Uhl is a master of a
much-maligned craft - writing the memoir and an astute chronicler of an era that was
peopled by true heroes: those veterans who
dared to oppose war. Uhl has won the right
to represent them, and he does so with the
appropriate amalgam of scholarly rigor,
grace, wit, and honesty. He is to be applauded and, more importantly, listened to.
Vietnam combat veteran Doug Rawlings is
a co-founder of Veterans For Peace. A past
president of Maine VFP Chapter 1, Rawlings,
a noted poet, is a college administrator at the
University of Maine/Farmington.
###
Signed and discounted copies of
the book are available from the
author; contact
michael@midcoast.com ,
or from www.amazon.com.
Empire and the Bomb:
Book Review
How the U.S. Uses Nuclear Weapons to Dominate The World
don’t mind running the risk of starting a
nuclear war to advance our policies, knowing
full well that such could trigger the war to
end all wars and wipe out the human race.
(Nothing like sticking by your principles,
eh?)
Such statements may sound extreme, but
only until you have delved into what may be
the most important book written in decades.
With all due to respect to the many diligent
works on global warming, Iraq, Afghanistan,
human and civil rights, poverty, racism, and
all of the other extremely important topics of
the day, the very real possibility of our country causing not just genocide but omnicide
(yes, a new word for me, too) chills the
blood, bones and soul and reduces what formerly was an “impossible” abstraction into a
frightening reality. Gerson cites no fewer than
40 occasions since 1946 when the U.S. has
broached the threat of nuclear weapons to
achieve its goals and came closer than anyone
ever thought to causing a full-blown nuclear
exchange between Russia and the U.S. during
the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
Pluto Press, www.plutobookscom
348 pages soft cover
$28.95
by Will Shapira
“The atomic weapons race and the secrecy
surrounding it crushed American democracy.
It induced us to conduct government according to lies. It distorted justice. It undermined
American morality.” Stuart Udall
I don’t know if they test the civil defense
warning systems in your hometown, but
come 1 p.m. Central Time on the first
Wednesday of each month in good old
Minneapolis, Minnesota—-the heart of the
heartland—- the sirens are sounded and those
of us who know the drill chant, “Put your
head between your legs and kiss your ass
goodbye.” I thought of that immediately after
reading only two pages of this incredible
book.
Simply stated, Joseph Gerson has written
the doomsday book of doomsday books.
He not only explodes every myth most of
us learned in school about the benevolence of
America over the centuries and how we
“needed” to drop atomic bombs on Japan to
end WWII but keenly cites one instance after
another of how we not only use our atomic
weaponry to support a policy of blatant,
unabashed and unapologetic imperialistic,
capitalistic global hegemony but apparently
Of all the statistics that Gerson produces,
none is scarier than this: “At the beginning of
the twenty-first century, only 51 U.S. strategic
warheads would be needed” in a nuclear
attack on Russia, “yet Washington’s arsenal
numbered more than 10,000 weapons.” And,
mind you, this is being written two days after
we learned an Air Force B-52 flew a training
mission from North Dakota to Louisiana with
nuclear weapons on board. That B-52 flight
was unauthorized and a “mistake.”
Unfortunately, it demonstrates that 45 years
later rogue elements in the U.S. military still
have the power to initiate nuclear war in violation of orders from their civilian and military commanders.
And, adds Gerson, who is a Program
Director for the
American
Friends Service
Committees, it
was during the
Clinton presidency that “The
Essentials of
Post-Cold War
Deterrence” were
adopted, committing the U.S. to
maintaining “’a
fear of national
extinction’ in the
minds of those it
-17-
seeks to intimidate.”
In his excellent foreword, Prof. Walden
Bello declares that “unless the people of the
United States and the world are able to push
the U.S. to get rid of its nuclear arsenal, there
will be no real peace. This book is a forceful
reminder of this truth and challenge.” Indeed.
Section by section, chapter by chapter,
Gerson effectively and inexorably makes his
case. Yet, he is not without hope. While our
war-mongering politicians and military personnel may have their itchy fingers on the
nuclear trigger, Gerson says peacemakers
such as he “have road maps to a nuclear
weapons-free world. We can reach the destination of nuclear weapons abolition only if
we find within ourselves the moral and political will that has been lacking for far too
long…Hope, imagination and resolute will
can be contagious. They also are essential for
human survival.”
This book is “must” reading for every
American and world politician, every media
person, every educator and every student
capable of understanding the magnitude of its
message and especially every American who
can get beyond the conventional un-wisdom
of our nation’s lap-dog media and mis-education system and face the awful truth of what
our country really is all about and maybe why
“they” hate us so much.
Now, will a Ken Burns, a Michael Moore,
an Al Gore or some other filmmaker step up
and convert Gerson’s book into a film that
cries out to be shown in the theatres and on
the television screens of the world before it’s
too late? The nuclear clock is ticking…
Empire and the Bomb can also be ordered
directly from the American Friends Service
Committee website www.afsc.org or from
www.amazon.com.
Farewell continued from page 1
contact any more. Those were very difficult
times. In one of the last conversations I had
with Dave back then he told me that every
morning he woke up thinking “Oh f@#%,
another day!”
So when I started to make Sir! No Sir! - my
documentary film on the GI movement which
I could not have made without him - Dave
was the first person I wanted to talk to, but I
had no idea what or whom I would find. What
I found was the person so many have been
writing about these last few days. Wracked by
illness, he was extraordinarily energetic and
eager to tell his story. The day of our interview, he had just come home from a grueling
three-day VFP convention and was worried he
wouldn’t have much energy. We talked for
four hours.
And here’s the most important part. After
decades of both political and personal conflicts, there are still some out there who would
say “Don’t talk to so-and-so, ‘cause he’s a
yada-yada.” Not only would Dave have none
of that, he actively spoke against it. Dave
knew the tremendous importance of telling
the story of the GI Movement today, in this
world and with this war. Because of him, several people are in the film alongside others
they wouldn’t have been in the same room
with a few years ago. And he carried that spirit into the dozens of screenings and Q&As he
participated in these past couple of years. He
has played a tremendous role in making Sir!
No Sir! the spark for today’s GI Movement
E.D. Report continued from page 3
David Cline’s favorite quotation:
“If there is no struggle, there is no
progress. Those who profess to favor
freedom, and yet depreciate agitation,
are men who want crops without
plowing up the ground. They want rain
without thunder and lightning. They
want the ocean without the awful roar
of its many waters. This struggle may
be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and
physical; but it must be a struggle.
Power concedes nothing without a
demand. It never did and it never will.
Frederick Douglass
David was committed to the struggle for
peace and justice. A Fredrick Douglass passage David quoted on many occasions exemplified David’s approach to activism. It was
one of the many reason I admired him. We
shared an understanding that to end the occupation of Iraq and forward VFP’s vision of a
world without war a grand struggle lies
ahead. It is in this spirit that we must examine
our efforts to end the war in Iraq.
Over the past few months I have heard
many people express frustration at the slow
pace of our, the anti-war and peace movements, efforts to end the occupation of Iraq
and that we have been utterly ineffective and
accomplished nothing. I believe this point of
view discounts significant changes and also
skews proper analysis of what to do next. If
we cannot see our successes we cannot accurately determine our next steps. It is important to remember that from March 2003
through December 2006 Congress acted in
full support of the Bush Administration’s war
policy and expansion of Presidential power.
The 2006 mid-term elections was a monumental shift due in no small part to the work
of the anti-war/peace movements. We put
intense pressure on Congress from January
through the vote which continued funding for
the occupation in May. Obviously we did not
succeed in stopping the occupation, but we
changed the national debate, a majority of the
people wants the war to end and both parties
know they must steer in a new direction.
In my opinion since the vote in May both
Democrats and Republicans have settled into
a rhythm of debate about the war, but have
taken no action to change direction. The prowar forces have gained the initiative.
Now we must regain the initiative. How?
First, there is no silver bullet. It will take the
cumulative effect of various tactics, actions
and ideas. We must support Iraq Veterans
Against the War as they execute their future
plans. We must make a concerted effort to
educate the public and service members about
resistance to this war within the military and
soldiers’ rights to speak out. We must continue to pressure Congress using the same
means as the last 11 months; however, we
-18-
that it has been. And that’s on top of his superhuman energy in building the work of
Veterans For Peace.
In these last years of his life, I don’t think
Dave was saying “Oh fuck, another day!”
anymore.
This has been a tough year. Along with
Dave, two other veterans of the GI Movement
who were integral parts of the film have also
died-Oliver Hirsch of the Nine for Peace, and
Terry Whitmore, who deserted to Sweden
after watching federal troops invade his home
town of Memphis as he lay wounded in a hospital bed in Japan. Along with Dave, their
lives had deep historic meaning.
David Zeiger, Filmmaker
must bring more people into the fray. We
have to use our imagination to develop fresh
and daring ways engage the public. We cannot grow the movements from within; expansion can only come from without. We must
continue to hit the streets in front of the
White House and the Congress to protest. But
we must also canvass neighborhoods and
organize town meetings and debates. We must
go where we are not expected to talk to those
who disagree. We must as I read what Martin
Luther King proposed to do in Montgomery
and Selma, surface tensions. But instead of
surfacing them only through mass protest, we
must surface them through direct dialogue.
There is no better way to engage and persuade than person to person. We must struggle with our fellow citizens face to face to
turn our nation towards a new path.
The struggle will be long, frustrating and at
times appear futile. This is the nature of
struggle. It is not for the faint of heart or the
fatalist. It requires determination and a
dogged belief in the power of the common
person. I believe VFP is up for the struggle.
###
Vets Wanted for Lawsuit
A large Minnesota law firm is looking
for military veterans who have experienced lengthy delays in obtaining rulings on their appeals of rulings by the
VA. The lawfirm is handling this lawsuit on a pro bono basis. If you are
interested in possibly becoming a
named plaintiff please contact; Tod
Ensign, Esq., Citizen
Soldier at (212) 679-2250
or;
citizensoldier1@aol.com.
for more details.
Editorial continued from page 3
health of the planet itself. What only recently
sounded to many like hysterical cries that the
sky is falling, warnings from the margins about
climate change and other environmental crisis,
have in the briefest span become the public’s
conventional wisdom. A world perpetually at
war orchestrated by American military might
can not confront the issues of misery, environ-
Enemies continued from page 2
Haddar recalled.
“A sniper killed him with one
head shot. The killing of my friend
during the first intifada made me
violent, but for some reason the
killing of my cousin made me think.
I retraced my thoughts about the
struggles between Palestinians and
Israelis and thought of how to end
it.”
He met an Israeli family and
learned to his surprise that “they
supported the existence of Palestine,
even though I thought no one in
Israel supported having two states.”
His thinking continued to change
until eventually he was ready to
attend a meeting of Combatants For
Peace.
“I
was
hesitant.
Psychologically I wasn’t ready to
accept that I would actually meet
one of the Israeli soldiers who had
caused the struggle of the
Palestinian people. Our first meeting was in secret with lookouts posted. I was so afraid. I asked myself
‘what the hell am I doing meeting
with an Israeli soldier? Just yesterday we were fighting!’”
mental degradation, quality of life and so on
that are of first priority to the overwhelming
majority of the world’s peoples. The gravest
and most persistent of the world’s problems
cannot be solved in a unipolar world on the
imperial model.
The good news is that, even in the face of
relentless U.S. expansionism through military
means - the geographical facts of which are
present in the more that 800 U.S. military
bases and installations
scattered over the planet the world is reordering
itself. Forces are in play,
only dimly perceived,
that could give rise to a
unique multipolar balance of geopolitical
power. China’s economy
will soon overtake ours as
the world’s largest. From
opposite ideological corners,
Chavez
in
Venezuela and Putin in
Russia are standing firm
against U.S. attempts to
bully them hypocritically
about “democracy” and
“free trade,” when the last
thing our rulers would do
Both parties to the meeting suspected an ambush and only after a
while did the suspicion between AlHaddar and his Israeli brothers-inarms begin to lift. “Eventually I
realized the Israeli was intelligent.
We began by taking it a step at a
time. Trust started. Now we have
a very strong relationship.”
is clean our own house first. Everywhere people are clamoring for a larger share in the
wealth of nations. No one can predict with certainty, but with the seemingly irreversible
pressures coming from so many corners of the
globe, even baby boomers may yet see a progressive shrinking in the reach of U.S. hegemony in their lifetimes, and the beginnings of
a new much healthier, much less dangerous
America. The next question would be, how can
we ensure that such a peace can be maintained
through collective authority where no single
nation has to rule the roost?
There is, of course, no guarantee that our
struggle to create such an “America” can succeed. But unless we intensify our efforts we
will surely fail. The responsibility of VFP
members today is to play a productive role in
any movement, as we now must in this period
of brutal warfare and occupation of Iraq and
Afghanistan (and soon perhaps Iran), that
demonstrates a potential for discrediting U.S.
militarism in all its manifestations, here and
abroad. And we must constantly expose the
true domestic enemies of peace who rule us,
those whose addiction to power and excessive
wealth institutionalize warfare as the dominant
human condition.
###
New Merchandise Item:
Our Long Sleeve VFP Shirts come
in navy and black.
Price: $20.00
“I know many people have lost
hope in this life,” the former fighter
said, citing Palestinian unemployment of 70 percent and 12,000
Palestinians imprisoned. “But me
and Combatants For Peace have not
lost hope. I will never lose hope.”
To a prolonged standing ovation
the former fighter pleaded, “Do not
leave me alone. We need your help.
Stand by our side so the struggle
will be against war and we will have
security, peace and justice.”
###
Ferner,
a
former
Navy
Corpsman and author of “Inside the
Red Zone: A Veteran For Peace
Reports from Iraq,” attended the
22nd annual convention of VFP.
-19-
Call the national office to place your order, or use the
merchandise order sheet in the back of this newsletter.
The Iraq Water Project
By Art Dorland
Since 1999—-eight long, painful years—Veterans For Peace Iraq Water Project has tried to
be a countervailing force to destructive American
policy in Iraq. Until the invasion, Washington’s
goal was to make life in Iraq so miserable that the
desperate people would overthrow their government or force it to sullenly submit to this country’s domination. In 2003 of course that failing
policy was altered to overt intervention. Few
members of an organization like ours will miss
the point that Iraq’s people were left far behind in
both of these approaches. Ordinary Americans
must judge how they themselves were served.
For an excellent
primer on the
worldwide struggle against US
military installations, order your
copy of
Outposts of
Empire today.
Prior to the military assault and in partnership
with the Muslim-American NGO Life for Relief
and Development, IWP rebuilt six municipal and
rural water treatment plants in southern and central Iraq. Contaminated water afflicted 50%
(now 70%) of Iraq’s people at the time and tipped
many a young child into his grave. Following
the invasion—-and after much conflicted discussion within our committee about how to proceed—-we financed a second set of repairs to
two of these water plants: one at Falluja damaged in US military action in 2004, and the
Hamden Jissr unit south of Basra, just recently
completed.
For reasons I do not have space to rehearse
here, we have changed our approach. By a fortuitous circumstance, we have a very valuable
contact in Amman, Jordan. Faiza al-Araji, an
Iraqi water engineer who fled abroad after threats
to her family, is using her exile in every way possible to help her fellow citizens, both in and out
of Iraq. This is where we come in.
IWP is presently sending small, eight gallon
per minute water sterilization units to Iraqi hospitals. (Imagine your own hospital having no
source of clean
water.) The device
we have chosen,
on Faiza’s recommendation,
is
called Sterilight,
manufactured in
Ontario and available in Amman.
Faiza establishes
contact with reliable Iraqi medical
personnel, purchases the unit and
arranges
trans-
portation. A package of spare parts is dispatched
in each shipment, which hopefully will give the
unit a lifetime of some two years. Total cost,
transport and all, for one of these combinations
comes in at about $1500. So far, we have sent
Sterilights to eleven hospitals, of which ten have
arrived, with one still waiting in Baghdad. It’s a
complicated process, fraught with all manner of
risk—-to the shipment, to our investment, and
especially to the drivers who make final over the
road delivery. So far, so good, however. It must
be clearly stated that this whole enterprise operates on personal trust, an element in diminishing
supply as the security situation in Iraq continues
to deteriorate.
Faiza has also asked if we might help Iraqi
schools by financing fiberglass water tanks,
made in Syria, to replace the old, leaking metal
ones. These are pretty cheap, and IWP has
agreed to her proposal.
Several VFP chapters have joined this effort
by raising funds to finance the purchase of a
Sterilight for Iraq. For me individually, participation in the Iraq Water Project constitutes a personal reparation to the people of Iraq for the
overwhelming disaster visited upon them by my
arrogant government. A government that will
never acknowledge, much less pay for, that country’s devastation.
Details to flesh out the previous information
are available at www.iraqwaterproject.org. If
you would like to contribute, you can donate on
line or send a check (VFP-Iraq Water Project) to
the national office, 216 South Meramec, St Louis
MO 63105. We especially solicit the participation of vets from both the 1991 intervention and
this one. Please contact me (artdorland@hotmail.com).
###
This booklet was published
by the Transnational
Institute in cooperation
with VFP. It is now available from the National
Office for $6. .
For the Iraq Moratorium the National Office staff erected a memorial honoring the 68 Missouri casualties.
Photo by Betsy Reznicek
-20-
Another Flag Overseas
By Margarita M. Asencio Lopez
Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean
Sea, one of the Greater Antilles colonized by
Spain. In 1898, it was invaded by the LIS military and to this date, has been a US colony,
although under a partial self-government status, named Commonwealth ° Since 1912
Puerto Ricans are American citizens and as
such, have been involved in all US imperial
°splendid little wars° (and big ones, tool. More
than 65 have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
When Sharon Kufeldt handed over the VFP
flag, saying I could use it “as you deem it fit,”
I felt like becoming a VFP ambassador in the
Caribbean. As I announced during the St.
Louis Convention, a rally was to be held in
San Juan, Puerto Rico, the following weekend
Presente!
Veterans For Peace notes with great
sadness the passing in 2007 of four senior members, Gene Glazer, Moe
Fishman, Alan Reilly and Gideon
Rosenbluth. Their leadership and
steadfast commitment to peace and justice over long and productive lives was
an inspiration to all of us. They will be
sorely missed.
than a thousand people (although some prowar journalists only saw 300), despite heavy
rainfall over most of the island. The VFP flag
was there, proudly waving to the tropical
breeze, standing on a home-made bamboo
pole.
(August 24-26), against the National
Convention of the US National Guard.
The USNG met in Puerto Rico’s
Convention Center, where the most recent war
weapons and games were shown. The Puerto
Rican Government planned some official
events for the most important War Tourists.
Few could be held: anti-Convention activities
started on Tuesday, with a “Bombazo a la
Convencion” at the University of Puerto Rico
(“bombazo” means “bombing”, literally, but a
“bomba” is also a Puerto Rican typical music
and dance). On Friday and Saturday afternoons, religious and political groups marched
to Old San Juan, where the Governor’s house
is located.
On Sunday, the main activity concentrated
near the Convention Center, attended by more
Madres Contra la Guerra (Mothers Against
the War, a non-partisan organization), went to
the Governor’s house on Monday, to hand in a
letter against the Government’s support of the
USNG Convention. Outside, about 20 protesters waited, chanting for peace. The VFP flag
was also there.
MAW invited the flag first, then the holder,
to their monthly demonstration at Mayaguez
(on the western coast) on Friday, September 7.
About 25 people -some of them, young people
from the nearby University of Puerto Rico
Mayaguez’ Campus-stood outside the US
Army Recruiting Office chanting for peace.
The VFP flag made the trip and waved in
Mayaguez.
I “seem it fit” to keep going to any peacewaging activity, in the name of VFP. And our
flag will be there
Margarita M. Asencio Lopez Associate
Member in Puerto Rico
###
Moe Fishman Presente!
Join us to honor the life and enduring contribution of Moe Fishman, the
voice of the Veterans of the Abraham
Lincoln Brigade. Music, speakers,
memories, inspiration, and refreshments. All are invited. Feel free to
bring copies of memorabilia, photographs, letters, poetry, to add to a
timeline banner of Moe’s life.
Saturday, November 10, 10:30 am.
Judson Memorial Church, 55
Washington Square South, NY, NY
10012.
Accessible entrance on
Thompson Street. In Moe’s memory, friends and family of the Veterans
of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade are
organizing to carry Moe’s activist
vision to future generations. If you
would like to be part of “Friends and
Family” or would like information
about the Memorial, call 212-9898624.
Margarita M. Asencio Lopez carries the VFP flag in Puerto Rico.
-21-
-22-
-23-
VFP Newsletter Fall 2007
Non-Profit Org.
US Postage Paid
St. Louis,
Missouri
Permit # 5414
Veterans For Peace
216 S. Meramec Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63105
Tel: 314-725-6005
Fax: 314-725-7103
vfp@veteransforpeace.net
Each One Bring One; such a simple and
powerful idea.
One of our most critical tasks as we struggle to end
the war in Iraq and take a stand for peace is to grow
our organization into a powerful force and voice.
Kicking off in January, we will be launching a special
effort to grow the membership. The National Office
will send out information to all our members asking
each one of them to search out veterans and persuade
at least one to join our ranks.
Nothing Can Be Done Without YOU!
The National Office can send out all the material in the
world and we can write eloquent motivating letters,
but nothing will be accomplished and not one single
new member will be recruited without your help. Your
actions and your presence in the community is how
Veterans For Peace has grown ten fold in the past six
years.
Together we can make a difference. With Each One
Bring One we will multiply our numbers and stand
together stronger than ever for peace.