\u201cDEATH\u201d OF CONGRESS SHIFTS WEIGHT OF
\nWAR RESISTANCE MORE HEAVILY ON MILITARY<\/p>\n
By Nick Mottern, Director, ConsumersforPeace.org
\nMarch 2, 2007<\/p>\n
One can argue that Congress died as a representative body on Feb. 16-17, 2007 when it went on record as doing nothing to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq. Statements of the Democratic leadership about the war since then can be compared to the chattering of microbes in a cadaver.<\/p>\n
The Congressional Iraq failure made it even more clear that Congress will not block an attack against Iran, despite mounting evidence that such an attack is likely within a few months if not weeks.<\/p>\n
And nothing can be expected from Congress to reduce U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, which, in the shadow cast by the death toll in Iraq, is becoming a war and occupation with no foreseeable end, a war possibly spreading into Pakistan. Indeed, the Afghanistan Plus war seems to have wide support in the Congress.<\/p>\n
Impeachment, a possible war deterent, say two Congressional aides of anit-war Congresspeople who prefer to remain anonymous, is not on a back burner, it is not even on the stove.<\/p>\n
Thus, in the absence of representative government, the task of ending the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and escalation of violence generally, is falling immediately, directly and heavily on the shoulders of those whom the military is trying to recruit and those already in the military. Put simply: No soldiers, no war.<\/p>\n
This development is exemplified in the February 13 \u201cAppeal to Conscience\u201d of retired Army Col. Ann Wright, issued at a time when it was becoming clear that Congress would very likely not reverse the escalation of any of the wars:<\/p>\n
\u201cI appeal to the conscience of US Air Force and US Navy pilots and military personnel who command cruise missiles and pilot bombers and those who plan the missions for the pilots and missile commanders. I ask that they refuse what I believe will be unlawful orders to attack Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n
The shift in antiwar burden to the military is also seen in the report in The (London) Sunday Times of February 25:<\/p>\n
\u201cTension in the Gulf region has raised fears that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely before President George Bush leaves office. The Sunday Times has learnt that up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
The newspaper said also that: \u201cA generals\u2019 revolt on such a scale would be unprecedented.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is also important to note that on February 23, the US Army refiled charges in its widely publicized case against First Lt. Ehren Watada for refusing to deploy to Iraq and for conduct unbecoming an officer, accusing him of making statements critical of the war or George W. Bush on four occasions. Lt. Watada faces six years in prison. His first trial ended in a mistrial earlier in February. At that time he planned to testify that he wanted to avoid committing war crimes by fighting in an illegal war.<\/p>\n
The current political situation presents a huge challenge to anti-war groups to undertake sustained systematic grassroots education, particularly among people most involved in the wars or likely to be involved. This likely means long-term plans for touring in low-income rural as well as urban areas and to military bases, with education relying on personal contact and not dependent on press coverage.<\/p>\n
At least three major tours\/campaigns are now being organized to begin to address this need.<\/p>\n
Before discussing them, however, it is important to note that the next major national event in anti-war mobilization, marking the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, will be a rally for ending the war and for impeachment on Saturday, March 17 at the Pentagon. While the rally, organized by ANSWER, is directed at Congress, it also is intended to inspire local organizing, bringing people from more than 200 communities across the country to Washington.<\/p>\n
The rally will give a major push to impeachment, incorporating the message of Impeach 07, a group of organizations that came together in February to try to force Congress to undertake impeachment, in large part to create additional pressure on the Bush\/Cheney Administration to stop war.<\/p>\n
On the same day as the march on the Pentagon, Veterans for Peace and will hold an anti-war demonstration at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville North Carolina, followed the next day by workshops and presentations. During the remainder of the month, Veterans for Peace will conduct a bus tour visiting five other military bases in the South. Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War will also participate. (See itinerary below.)<\/p>\n
Also on March 17, the national Make Hip Hop Not War Tour will begin with the march on the Pentagon in Washington, DC and then get underway for the University of New Hampshire in Manchester. Over the next month it will visit at least 16 cities and towns from coast to coast and back, concluding April 21 in Baltimore, Maryland.<\/p>\n
One of the main goals of the tour is to: \u201cCreate a new network of young people, primarily from low-income communities and communities of color to respond to calls for action against war and nuclear proliferation.\u201d One aspect of the tour, which will use a bus, will be \u201c\u2019Community Drive-bys\u2019 in conjunction with door-to-door canvassing by local partner organizations where the bus will add \u2018street value\u2019 to traditional outreach.\u201d
\n(See itinerary below.)<\/p>\n
In an extremely important development, Iraq Veterans Against the War is beginning to organize a national campaign that will, according to a draft fund-raising letter:<\/p>\n
\u201c1. Mobilize active duty service members to resist the illegal occupation of Iraq,
\n\u201c2. Amplify the voices of veterans who say that this war is not winnable, and
\n\u201c3. Persuade young people considering military service that they should think twice before serving in this war.\u201d<\/p>\n
The campaign will begin with weekend training sessions for IVAW members. \u201cAt these intensive retreats,\u201d the letter says, \u201cour members will learn about the strategic concepts of our campaign and how they can be turned into practical opportunities for action at the local level.\u201d<\/p>\n
The campaign will focus on National Guard troops as well as regular military as these troops are expected to be engaged in increasing numbers. The Guard is also facing new rules allowing \u201cback to back\u201d deployment.<\/p>\n
For more information on this campaign contact www.ivaw.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n In addition to these actions, Citizen Soldier has established the Different Drummer Caf\u00e9 outside Fort Drum in Watertown, NY. The caf\u00e9 was established, says www.differentdrummercafe.org: \u201cto provide active duty and reserve military personnel and families\u2026with an inviting, comfortable and warm place to socialize, listen to music and enjoy other live entertainment. Soldiers will also have access to legal counseling, a bookstore, and a regular program of film showings and discussions on current issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Ann Wright will be appearing at the Different Drummer on March 9 at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n (Perhaps the most popular film with respect to military resistance to war is \u201cSir, No Sir\u201d, which gives a remarkable history of troop resistance to the Viet Nam War. The film shows the breadth and depth of this resistance, which I believe has not be documented before in such an accessible way for the general public. See www.sirnosir.com.)<\/p>\n Finally, GI Special provides a daily report on military resistance to the Iraq War, including news from Iraq and commentaries by troops. It is run by Thomas Barton at thomasfbarton@earthlink.net. GI Special issues are archived at www.militaryproject.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n VETERANS FOR PEACE TOUR March 17 \u2013 31<\/p>\n 17 – Fayetteville, North Carolina (Fort Bragg) Mass demonstration. Plans for the tour are developing on a daily basis. Monitor www.veteransforpeace.org<\/a><\/p>\n HIP HOP CAUCUS MAKE HIP HOP NOT WAR TOUR March 17 \u2013 April 21<\/p>\n March<\/p>\n 17 \u2013 March on the Pentagon April<\/p>\n 1 \u2013 Atlanta, GA (Morehouse and Spellman College) For specifics on the tour monitor www.hiphopcaucus.org<\/a><\/p>\n Originally published at ConsumersforPeace.org<\/a> \u201cDEATH\u201d OF CONGRESS SHIFTS WEIGHT OF WAR RESISTANCE MORE HEAVILY ON MILITARY By Nick Mottern, Director, ConsumersforPeace.org March 2, 2007 One can argue that Congress died as a representative body on Feb. 16-17, 2007 when it went on record as doing nothing to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq. Statements of the Democratic leadership about the… Continue reading Death of Congress shifts resistance to military<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/traprock_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/traprock_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/traprock_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/traprock_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/traprock_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/traprock_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147,"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/traprock_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions\/147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/traprock_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/traprock_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grassrootspeace.org\/traprock_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n 18 – Fayetteville, NC \u2013 Workshops and presentations. Evening vigil at Market House
\n on Hay St.
\n 19 – At Fayetteville. Film and discussion \u2013 First Christian Church (1505 Fort Bragg Rd.)
\n \u2013 7 p.m.
\n 20 – Depart Fayetteville for Ft. Jackson, SC (170 miles)
\n 21 – Depart Ft. Jackson for Ft. Stewart, Savannah, Georgia (160 miles)
\n 22 – Depart Ft. Stewart for Mayport\/Jacksonville Naval Air Sta. (140 miles)
\n 23 – Depart Jacksonville for Ft. Benning, Georgia (290 miles)
\n 24 – Depart Ft. Benning for Maxwell-Gunter AFB, Montgomery, AL (90 miles)
\n 25 – Depart Montgomery for Pascagoula, MS, via Mobile, (210 miles)
\n 26 – 31 – Assist in Katrina rebuilding in Pascagoula.<\/p>\n
\n21 \u2013 Manchester, NH (University of New Hampshire)
\n22 \u2013 Boston, MA
\n24 \u2013 New York, NY (Columbia University)
\n27 \u2013 Greensboro, NC (North Carolina A&T)
\n29 \u2013 Orangeburg, SC (South Carolina State)<\/p>\n
\n4 \u2013 Memphis, TN (University of Memphis)
\n8 \u2013 Crawford, TX (Camp Casey)
\n9 \u2013 Phoenix, AZ (University of Phoenix)
\n10 \u2013 Los Angeles, CA
\n11 \u2013 San Francisco, CA (University of California)
\n14 \u2013 Des Moines, IA (Iowa State University)
\n17 \u2013 Chicago, IL
\n18 \u2013 South Bend, IN (University of Notre Dame)
\n20 \u2013 Pittsburgh, PA
\n21 \u2013 Baltimore, MD (Morgan State University)<\/p>\n
\nWe thank the author for contributing it to this blog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"