{"id":62,"date":"2010-02-16T11:16:25","date_gmt":"2010-02-16T15:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.libertyunionparty.org\/?p=62"},"modified":"2010-02-16T11:16:25","modified_gmt":"2010-02-16T15:16:25","slug":"rethinking-the-peace-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenmountainpeaceandjusticeparty.org\/?p=62","title":{"rendered":"Rethinking the Peace Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rethinking the Peace Movement<\/font><\/strong><\/font><\/strong> By Rosemarie Jackowski<\/font><\/em>March 20 is a day of historical importance. On March 20, 2003 there were world-wide protests against US military aggression.\u00a0\u00a0 Millions of activists around the world participated.\u00a0 Some of the protests were inspired by\u00a0US\u00a0plans for “Shock and Awe”.\u00a0 “Shock and Awe” was promised by the US government to be one of the most destructive military campaigns in\u00a0history.\u00a0 In addition the US was at the same time threatening the use of\u00a0nuclear weapons.<\/font><\/strong><\/font><\/strong>Historical perspective is needed. It has to be remembered that the US had been bombing Iraq since 1991.\u00a0 The bombing was a prelude to 9\/11.\u00a0 9\/11 was Blowback – a predictable\u00a0response to the many years of\u00a0bombing by the US.\u00a0\u00a0Two other\u00a0reasons\u00a0for the 9\/11 attack were the US policy against the Palestinians, and the location of US bases in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

Many peace activists have been protesting since 1991.\u00a0\u00a0 Many continue to protest and\u00a0plans are\u00a0underway for demonstrations on March 20, 2010.<\/p>\n

How effective have the protests been?\u00a0 Since 1991, the killing has continued. Civilians continue to die. The US killing machine has become even\u00a0more deadly. The Pentagon\u00a0continues to have access to unlimited funding.\u00a0 Private contractors and\u00a0advancing technology add to the problem.\u00a0The war is often engineered and managed from military\u00a0bases within the US. \u00a0Drones controlled from bases close to home provide an added level of comfort for the troops who can now go home for supper with the wife and kids. Killing has become as easy as going to the office – just another 9 to 5 job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meantime, the protesters have not changed their tactics.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is time to re-think the peace movement.\u00a0 Voting does not work because the US has no opposition party with enough power to bring peace.\u00a0 Protesting does not work. Singing songs, lighting candles, and\u00a0 peace vigils have not saved one human life.\u00a0\u00a0 Innocent children and other civilians continue to die.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The way to achieve\u00a0peace alludes all of us.\u00a0 Boycotts would be effective if enough people participated.\u00a0\u00a0That is not likely.<\/p>\n

Pro-government propaganda from the media is a big part of the problem.\u00a0\u00a0 The failure of the educational system is also\u00a0part of the problem. Think of how much different things would be if Howard Zinn’s “People’s History of the United States<\/em>” was the required\u00a0text book in every classroom. That is a taxpayer friendly change that would cost\u00a0nothing.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, there is no light at the end of the tunnel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On March 20, 2003, I was one of the millions who participated in a peaceful protest against the war. I was one of 12 in Bennington, Vermont who was\u00a0arrested, incarcerated, handcuffed, booked, fingerprinted, and photographed. I alone\u00a0was tried and convicted.\u00a0 Courtroom procedure allows the condemned the Right of Allocution at the time of Sentencing. This was the first time that I was allowed to speak freely and openly to the court. My Courtroom speech was delivered with passion. The passion remains today – but all hope has been abandoned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Below are my words, as I spoke them, to Judge David Suntag, in Vermont District Court on October 7, 2004.<\/p>\n

A Courtroom Speech<\/u><\/font>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Your Honor, I would like to express my gratitude to you, the Prosecutor Mr. McManus, the members of the Bennington Police Department, to my family, especially Christine, to all those who support me, and especially to Mr. Saltonstall.<\/p>\n

It is my profound respect for the Rule of Law that brought me to the 4 corners on March 20, 2003. At the precise moment of my arrest, the federal government of the United States was bombing civilians. The bombing of civilians is a violation of international law, a violation of U.S. treaties, a crime against humanity, and a war crime. Now that same government is sitting in judgment of many who have protested the war. Last week, in a court in Philadelphia, Lillian Willoughby, an 89-year-old deaf woman, in a wheelchair, was sentenced to prison. She had participated in a peaceful protest. Also in Philadelphia, Andrea Ferich, a 22 year old, was sentenced and she has just spent a week in solitary confinement. She also had participated in a peaceful protest. I have just been told that Michael Berg, father of Nick Berg, was arrested in a peaceful protest on Saturday, in Washington. All over this country, hundreds of those who have peacefully protested the war, are now condemned by the government. The way that this country is headed, eventually, all people of peace will be behind bars. I am in solidarity with them and all others who have resisted the government in the past, or will do so in the future.<\/p>\n

Your Honor, it is with deep respect that I voice some concerns. How can it be that a nation, that is itself in violation of the law, can then hope to impose the rule of law on its citizens? I believe that either the rule of law applies to everyone, or else it applies to no one. Even a nation as powerful as the United States, can not have it both ways. The fact that the government of the U.S. is in violation of the law, is a fact that has been documented by many around the world. William Blum, one of the world\u2019s leading historians, and also former member of the US State Department, has authored several books on the topic – even naming one of his books about US foreign policy, Rogue State<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I have here a copy of the Indictment of 19 charges against members of the government as compiled by former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark. [I held the documents up for all to see.<\/em>] Also, here is a statement from a group of US law professors. The statement is entitled \u201cUS Lawyers Warn Bush on War Crimes.\u201d Also, here is a report from an international human rights organization that is accredited by the United Nations. This report documents extensive US war crimes in Iraq. This is just a small sample of information that is easily available. Can all of these experts be wrong? Also, I have here an Associated Press report that was released shortly before<\/em> my arrest, stating that the US was threatening to use nuclear weapons. That, too, is a war crime.<\/p>\n

Your Honor, I believe that our government will not regain its legal and moral authority until it gives up its life of International Crime, and in the words of William Blum, is no longer a rogue state. It is important to say here, that the war in Iraq is not the first violation of human rights and International Law by the US. The abuse of people, people just like you and me, started back in 1492 and has been a consistent pattern ever since. Talk to some Native Americans, especially now that Columbus Day is upon us. Talk to our black brothers and sisters. Talk to the people of Diego Garcia or Panama or Hiroshima or Cuba…the list is endless.<\/p>\n

As individual citizens, we all have rights and responsibilities. I believe that it is the responsibility of all citizens to resist any government, anywhere, anytime, when that government is slaughtering civilians. I, and many other protesters that I know, would gladly spend the rest of our lives in prison, if only the US would stop bombing civilians.<\/p>\n

I have always been opposed to any form of violence. Seeing the photographs of the bombed Iraqi children has changed my life and strengthened my commitment to working for justice for those children. I do not understand how anyone can stand by silently, while knowing that civilians are being bombed. If what I, and the many thousands of others who protested the war, did, was wrong – what then would be the right thing to do? If you saw a child being beaten up and murdered on Main Street by a gang of thugs, should you write a letter to the editor or call your congressman or write a book on how adults should interact with children? Of course not. When children are being killed, immediate, direct, and powerful intervention is called for. What the other protesters and I did should be criticized in only one area. We all did too little. To all of the people of Iraq, I would like to say, \u201cI am sorry. I will try to do better in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

I pray for the day when factory workers join with farmers, and police officers join with poets, and judges join with veterans in protesting the illegal acts of our government. Now is a time in history when silence is the greatest of all crimes.<\/p>\n

What happens to me here today is not important. Since the day of my arrest, more than 13,000 Iraqi civilians, many of them children, have been killed. That IS important.<\/p>\n

Rosemarie Jackowski is an\u00a0advocacy journalist living in the USA.\u00a0\u00a0 dissent@sover.net<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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