WLOE E-Newsletter: Going home for the war.

Report on a trip to the USA, 14-28 March 2003

(Over the past two weeks we have not sent WLOE e-newsletters because your editor traveled home, from Berlin to Massachusetts. Here is an informal report of that trip, including a new compliation of internet sites relevant to the current war on Iraq and popular resistance and opposition to war.)

• During my two week stay on the east coast, anticipation and fear of war crested, Bush spoke (Monday March 17), and then it was only a matter of terrible time until the bombs started falling (Wednesday the 19th). Being home during this period was a schizophrenic experience. There was the happiness of being with friends and family, of seeing winter turn to spring -- and then the horror of this war, which we have watched and protested as it developed, but have been unable to prevent.
  
  A main focus of the trip was the dedication on Saturday, 22 March, of the Women and Life on Earth archive at Smith College’s Sophia Smith women’s history Collection. Little did we know when the date was set that this would be the first weekend of the attack on Iraq. However the meeting went on, despite a number of changes and cancellations, mainly due to the war. We saw our gathering as a solidarity action for peace, and in that sense it went well. An original theater-cabaret piece, Globalize THIS!#$!, by local artists Suzy Polucci and Court Dorsey had its world premiere, and is available for scheduling in the US and Europe (October 2003). Thanks to the Sophia Smith Collection and all who participated in the meeting.
  For more information, see Peacework magazine:http://www.afsc.org/pwork/0303/030319.htm)
  
  Aside from that event and good related meetings with several WLOE advisors, my time was mainly spent getting a feel for the situation in the US. During the visit I was part of a coordinated street picket (along Cambridge’s Mass. Ave.) and an interesting women’s meeting in Boston; a town common community peace vigil in Greenfield, MA; two evening vigils in front of the White House in Washington, DC with women from “Code Pink” and a small (but vocal) Code Pink and friends demonstration in front of the American Enterprise Institute in DC, where Richard Perle, an architect of this war, was speaking at a breakfast meeting. (We chanted: “hey hey, ho ho, Richard Perle has got to go”. Two days later he resigned as chairman of the Defense Policy Board, more due to negative publicity following a New Yorker magazine article on his corporate and other nefarious connections than our chants, but still…)
  http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?030317fa_fact
  
  A visit to an evening meeting (March 24) of Catholic peace activists marking the 23rd anniversary of the assassination of El Salvador’s Bishop Oscar Romero, made a strong impression. One important message: “focus on the victims, do not look away.” When not demonstrating, I was talking with friends and activists and doing a lot of ‘monitoring’ of radio broadcasting, with some TV. I knew that the mainstream media in the US was highly controlled or self-censored, but being there and experiencing it myself was still a shock. The war was presented like a sports program, our team (good) and their’s (evil), with a focus either on the tactics and strategy of war or on personal stories of ‘our troops’, and then, when there were casualties, profiles of the families and communities affected. There was almost nothing of the reality on the ground from the Iraqi perspective, or about national and world-wide protests against the war. This may seem obvious, but the extent of media control, which has even included organizational support for pro-war demonstrations**, made for a very Orwellesque and frightening reality. Returning to Berlin, I saw pictures of Iraqi casualties, and fairly extensive coverage of international protests on the national news programs. (“Most of the pro-war demonstrations around the country have … been organized by stations owned by Clear Channel Communications, a behemoth based in San Antonio that controls more than 1,200 stations and increasingly dominates the airwaves.” -- NYTimes.com, ”Channels of Influence” By Paul Krugman, March 25, 2003.)
  
  As Americans and friends-of know all too well, there are ‘many Americas.’ And there is a strong base of opposition to the war and empire desires of Bush and his cabal of friends and associates, which has been growing since the October 2002  vote in Congress giving war powers to Bush. Opposition surfaces on three levels: grassroots (local) action; intense internet activity; and ‘hit and run’ actions in the media, for example both the choice of Michael Moore’s film “Bowling for Columbine” as best documentary at the Oscar awards (Sunday eve March 23), and his strong anti-war and anti-Bush (it started with election-theft) statement.
  
  
• Strategies for peace
  
  Demonstrations: these continue, daily and weekly around the country. See listings by state at the United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) site http://www.unitedforpeace.org
  From April 4 to 7, in commemoration of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King and in celebration of his legacy, United for Peace and Justice is calling for nationally coordinated local antiwar actions throughout the country, in cooperation with the Campus Anti-War Network, Citizen Works and Direct Action to Stop the War, which are all organizing nationwide protests during the same period. See the UFPJ site and those of organizations and networks involved: http://www.citizenworks.org
  http://www.antiwarnetwork.org
  http://www.actagainstwar.org
  UFPJ also supports the activities being organized by the Latin American Solidarity Coalition from April 10th to 15th in Washington, DC. In addition to a major national conference, LASC is organizing a march and rally on April 13th and two days of Congressional lobbying on April 14th and 15th. For information, see http://www.lasolidarity.org
  April 14th and 15th will also see two days of non-violent civil disobedience organized by the Iraq Pledge of Resistance. For more information, see http://www.peacepledge.org
  The Answer Coalition is calling for a national demonstration in Washington, DC on April 12, with related actions in San Francisco and Los Angeles http://www.internationalanswer.org/
  CODE PINK: The women’s vigil at the White House, started in November 2002 by a group of women under the name Code Pink, culminated on International Women’s Day, March 8th, with an encirclement of the White House (from a rather extended distance, as they were pushed back by police), rally and civil disobedience action. From their small office near the White House, the group coordinates evening vigils in front of the White House and other actions. Their website is growing (see www.codepink4peace.org) and their mailing list has grown to 10,000. They get 5-10 calls a day from women around the country who want to start local groups and actions. See local women’s demonstrations at: http://www.codepinkalert.org/Local_CODEPINKs.shtml)
  Women are involved in peace organizations around the country (and world of course), but Code Pink is the major women’s group formed specifically to oppose the war on Iraq. Other women’s efforts can be found through the sites of the Women’s international League for Peace and Freedom http://www.wilpf.org and http://www.peacewomen.org
  
  
• Informing the public:
  A fundamental problem is that a majority of Americans support the war, mainly for reasons based on government lies. The results of governmental and media dis-information is summarized well in this article: “uncommon sense : The Big Lie From Joe Conason's An unproven case, a spurious war":
  The President's appeal to fear has persuaded his chosen audience, if not the world. Opinion surveys following his appearance indicate that most Americans now accept his dubious assertion that „every measure has been taken to avoid war." One reason why Americans are rallying around the White House, despite the strong doubts reflected in those same polls, is that many Americans also believe things that are simply not true..."
  to read the column: http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=14705
  See also: Noam Chomsky on War: ZNet forum questions and responses March 31, 2003 at: http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=3357
  
  
• Sources of information:
  Given the serious thought-control being exercized by the mainstream media (worst of all is the popular Fox TV network), news focusing on peace action and what is really happening in Iraq is critical. Two radio shows, both featuring women, are of special importance here: Amy Goodman’s “Democracy Now!” and Laura Flanders’ Working Assets Radio. Working Assets Radio is “a new daily talk show about politics and culture” http://www.workingforchange.com
  
  “Democracy Now! is a national, listener-sponsored public radio and TV show, pioneering the largest community media collaboration in the country. We air Monday-Friday on over 120 stations including Pacifica radio stations, Pacifica affiliates, WBIX.org, public access TV stations, Free Speech TV (DishNetwork Channel 9415), and Shortwave Radio (Radio for Peace International). We are available to all stations.” Currently Amy Goodman presents an excellent 2 hour show (8-10 am EST) that includes news and information, interviews, and is an information ‘life-line’ for many activists. http://www.democracynow.org
  There are currently hundreds of sites with information about Iraq. Here are several of interest: http://www.traprockpeace.org
  My local U.S. peace group has an excellent site featuring information on Iraq, the dangers of depleted uranium, and news on peace actions in New England. http://www.iraqbodycount.net
  
  “This project aims to record single-mindedly and on a virtually real-time basis one key and immutable index of the fruits of war: the death toll of innocents. The full extent of this has often gone unnoticed until long after a war has ended, if at all.” www.afsc.org Letters from Amman, national organizing, resource materials, humanitarian assistance.  Sign up for e-lists on national organizing, reports from the region. www.cairnet.org
  Council on American Islamic Relations:  statements from the Islamic community on the war, reports on FBI and INS activities re Iraqi Americans and other Arab and Muslim Americans, hate crimes against Arab and Muslim Americans.  Compilation of press reports, editorials. www.truthout.org
  Compilation of interesting articles raising questions about the war. http://www.moveon.org
  Perhaps the most mainstream of the internet organizing efforts, MoveOn, with “an international list of more than 2,000,000 online activists, (is) one of the most effective and responsive outlets for democratic participation available today.” One of their projects marked a bright spot in US Congressional action. As MoveOn reported on March 19th: “The Senate voted 52-48 today to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling, by removing from the budget bill a provision that would have permitted drilling there… More than 2,000 MoveOn members helped make this possible by calling key Senators since yesterday.  It may have made all the difference: two of the swing votes on whom we focused most attention, Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Mark Pryor (D-AR), both voted to protect the Refuge.  They made up the margin of victory today.” This was an important victory on the environmental front, and helps oppose unlimited-control-of-oil energy policy of Bush & Co., of which the Iraq war is a part.
  
  
• Alternative media sources:
  People are breaking through the media dis-information through using the internet to read papers like The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/
  British journalist Robert Fisk does excellent reporting from Baghdad for the London Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/
  Or visit alternative news sites like http://www.indymedia.org which reports that on the weekend “March 21-23, over 5 million people protested in anti-war demonstrations around the world.”
  Other good sites are http.//www.Tompaine.com
  http://www.alternet.org
  http://www.zmag.org/weluser.htm
  
  
• What is solidarity? In this critical period we need to explore what we can do to reach and inform the US population, support those who speak out and encourage others to do the same. The people of the US should reject empire-building based on exploitation, and join the majority world-wide in demanding an immediate stop to the illegal and shameful war on the people of Iraq. Resources wasted on a war economy must be used to solve urgent social and ecological problems.
  
  I hope this review will be of interest, and want to give special thanks to all the friends who supported me during this trip.
  Anna Gyorgy
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