Bring the men and women in Iraq home today
CodePinkxxxxxxxxxxCoalition to end the war
If you think that my suggestion is a bad
idea, at least buy one of my books. You'll
learn and laugh. Just click on details.
Why are these citizens still there? I thought
the war was over five years ago.
Didn't you see the sign, "Mission Accomplished?"
Immediately, after 9/11, there were neither
weapons of mass
destruction nor terrorism in Iraq. Of course,
they are both there now.
Saddam Hussein had no connection to 9/11.
You may have heard the
story that the terrorists were mostly from
Saudi Arabia.
Saddam Hussein had no relation to Osama bin
Laden. I think there was a
connection between him and Rumsfeld, from
the photo I saw. From the support
given him in the 1980s, George H. W. Bush
and Hussein may have been cousins.
| WNY Interfaith Peace Network |
Buffalo News Editorial Page | |
| 1272 Delaware Ave. | “Another Voice”, March 12, 2007 | |
| Buffalo, NY 14209 | ||
| “Americans must find the fortitude to demand peace” | ||
| It is the mission of the Interfaith Peace Network to help | My beautiful, bright morn, sun sparkling on the snow, contrasting | |
| religious communities in building a Culture of Peace. | dark trees with limbs extending at odd angles, altogether shows | |
| the brilliance of the creation that God intends. How can I reconcile | ||
| April 2007 | that our nation is at war this very moment, unleashing unimaginable | |
| A Call to People of Western New York | terror by occupying Iraq, dismissing its army and police, and not | |
| providing the security its people needed. | ||
| The undersigned, people of faith and community leaders, invite | x | |
| people throughout Western New York to join us in calling for | What propels this war, largely opposed by U.S. citizens, | |
| an end to United States involvements in the Iraq war. | to escalate? | |
| Leaders with vague, distant goals who spew threats and fears are | ||
| • All the great faiths call us to peace, to love our Creator and to | fanatical: Per the Washington Post, March 2, 2007, Dick Cheney | |
| love our neighbors. The majority of people in the United States | says withdrawing U.S. forces would threaten Afghanistan, other | |
| now opposes the Iraq War and, is nervous about an attack by our | Mideast capitals and countries on other continents, i.e., a resur- | |
| country on Iran. (CNN poll of 1000 people Feb. 14, 2006 | rected Vietnam “domino theory.” A deaf administration uses sec- | |
| CNN.com). | recy embedded in fear, with every forecast miserably wrongheaded | |
| (e.g., flowers for the occupiers, understated budgets and troops re- | ||
| • We are all children of our Creator. Deliberate killing of any of | quired, Iraq - bastionof Mideast democracy). Fanatics need ene- | |
| God’s children is deliberate killing of our brothers and sisters. | mies to hate, a foundation for violence. | |
| Deliberately killing our neighbor or our enemy is contradictory | x | |
| to our faiths’ calls to love. | The media spreads its propaganda. National media largely without | |
| question gave credence to false claims for going to war, only lately | ||
| • Our faiths call us to be peacemakers. It is possible to bring | challenging the administration, yet still yielding credibility to “ano- | |
| about great change peacefully. Momentous change has come | nymous government sources” parading supposed evidence of Iran’s | |
| about through nonviolence, including: The liberation of India, | involvement despite their own general’s questions. | |
| the elimination of apartheid in South Africa, the downfall of | x | |
| the former Soviet Union, and the successes of the U. S. | They require war resources. A “see no evil” Congress authorized | |
| civil rights movement. | tax money and troops for the war. Congressmen like Higgins and | |
| Reynolds, and Sen. Clinton, still fail to give strong, determined | ||
| • We believe that all people have their origin and destiny in God | leadership needed to end the war, unlike courageous leaders like | |
| We share a common humanity that draws us to compassion | like Robert Byrd, Louise Slaughter and Dennis Kucinich, staunch | |
| not only for innocent people who suffer from the tragic | opponents from the start. | |
| effects of war, but also for combatants themselves. | x | |
| Massive profits, amply documented in “Iraq for Sale”, | ||
| In contrast to the tragic consequences of this war, President | create undeniable impetus. | |
| Eisenhower said, “Peace is more than the stilling of guns, | x | |
| easing the sorrow of war. More than an escape from death, | Finally, we oppose the war but continue to acquiesce, accepting | |
| it is a way of life. More than a haven for the weary, it is a | brutality and savagery. Our people understate Iraqi deaths by as | |
| hope for the brave.” | much as 98%. A predominately weak religious leadership com- | |
| pounds the silence. Scholar Juan Cole reports that despite papal | ||
| Our faith in God, our common call to be people of peace and | opposition to the war, only 28% of Catholics even know their | |
| our compassion for all who are suffering from war, underscore | religious leaders’ position. The hierarchy has deeply eroded its | |
| the urgent need to become active peacemakers. Therefore, we | moral authority by recent scandals. | |
| call on our brothers and sisters in Western New York to exer- | x | |
| cise their rights and responsibilities as citizens to press Con- | What would it take to end U. S. involvement in this war? To recon- | |
| gress and the President to end all U.S. involvement in war – now. | cile love and compassion with behavior, we would need to stop our | |
| voluntary support, leave jingoistic slogans behind, and recognize | ||
| Let these prayers unite us all in calling for peace: | that the administration recruits our young and minority volunteers | |
| “In this nation, may not even the names of disease, famine, war, | to risk life on their behalf. Ending the war must become a higher | |
| and suffering be heard.”… Buddhist | priority than numbing entertainment. It requires people who dem- | |
| onstrate extraordinary courage in standing up to power and fana- | ||
| “Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be known as | tasm, taking faith so seriously that risks shrink in view of the ulti- | |
| Children of God.”…Christian | mate goal of cultivating seeds of peace, demanding that leaders | |
| create themutual trust, dialogue and international policies that a | ||
| May all things be a source of peace to us.” … Hindu | peaceful world requires. | |
| x | ||
| “The servants of God, Most Gracious, are those who | We will find that peace when love for the other exceeds the de- | |
| walk on the Earth in humility, and when we address | sire for revenge, retribution and punishment. If somehow we | |
| them, we say ‘Peace’."… Islamic | could muster the resolve to remove voluntary compliance, we | |
| might be able to soak in the serene tranquility that God | ||
| “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation - neither | intends. | |
| shall they learn war any more.”… Jewish | xxxxxxxxxxWilliam H. Privett | |
| x | ||
| “You are the one who does not hesitate to respond to our | ||
| call. You are the cornerstone of peace.”…Native American | ||
| x | a letter to the Buffalo News | |
| Peace, | March 19, 2007 | |
| Undersigned People of Faith and Community Leaders of | I am a catholic, a convert. What draws my interest particularly | |
| Western New York | are lay persons who claim to be "Catholic theologians" in a church | |
| where there is really only one theologian at a ime....They and fr | ||
| neuhaus first draw attention as papal loyalists and then stab the | ||
| pope in the back the most horrible thing man can do, which is to | ||
| Tragic Consequences of the War in Iraq | wage war, even more egregiously launch "preemptive war." I think | |
| The call for peace in light of the tragic consequences of war has | those three are simply impostors. I wrote about Neuhaus once be- | |
| been consistent. Representatives of twelve major religions called | fore--for taking money from Richard Mellon Scaife. I drew for my | |
| for peace in Assisi, January 2002. # | my trouble a vicious involuted attack from him. Words, and more | |
| words. | ||
| As of March 1, 2007, nearly 3,200 members of the United States | xxxxxxxxxxDouglas L. Turner | |
| armed forces have died and more than 20,000 have been injured | xxxxxxxxxxSenior Correspondent | |
| since the start of the war. | xxxxxxxxxxBuffalo News Washington Bureau | |
| xxxxxxxxxx1141 National Press Bldg. | ||
| Wars now kill far more civilians than combatants. In Iraq, thou- | xxxxxxxxxx529 14th St. NW | |
| sands and thousands of people, mothers, fathers, children and | xxxxxxxxxxWashington DC 20045 | |
| grandchildrenare dying each month. Johns Hopkins University, | ||
| using methodology validated by the Massachusetts Institute of | ||
| Technology, has estimated that 655,000 Iraqis have died as a | ||
| result of the current war. (See statement by Johns Hopkins | We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are | |
| Bloomberg School of Public Health, Oct. 11, 2006) | pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are | |
| x | different colors, but they all have to live in the same box. | |
| The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are now costing the U. S. | ||
| gov't approximately $8 billion a month, $3,000 per second. & | ||
| This is in addition to the Defense Budget of $463 billion dollars, | ||
| or approximately $14,000 per second. The cost of war constrains | "I learned the hard way there is no glory in a folded flag." - | |
| the United States in responding to our own pressing social needs. | an Oakland woman who lost her husband to the Vietnam War | |
| It limits the humanitarian assistance the United States can provide | ||
| other nations which would stabilize nations and regions. Every | ||
| dollar spent on weaponry, death and destruction is a dollar taken | ||
| from the poor and hungry in the U.S. and elsewhere. | "How many more Americans coming home in | |
| x | wheelchairs---like me---will it take before we learn?" - | |
| Nearly 2 million Iraqis are displaced inside Iraq. Forty percent of | Ron Kovic | |
| Iraq's middle class is believed to have fled the country in the wake | ||
| of violence that has cost the lives of at least 2,000 Iraqi doctors | ||
| since the U.S. invasion in 2003. + This flight has undermined | ||
| basic services, water, electricity, and sanitation and disrupted | "Personally, parades that honor the military are | |
| commerce making it difficult for Iraqi society to function. Neigh- | somewhat troublesome to me because the military | |
| boring countries are overwhelmed by Iraqi refugees, now 10 % | is about war, and war is troublesome to me." | |
| of the population of Jordan, a nation of only 6 million persons. @ | Mary Belle Dressler | |
| $20 million has been allocated by the U.S. for Iraqi refugee assist- | ||
| ance, but “The U.S. has pledged $18 million to UNHCR's special | ||
| appeal on top of this year's regular allocation of $20 million, | ||
| and has agreed to resettle up to 7000 Iraqi refugees.” * | "And the time is rapidly approaching when the professional | |
| x | soldier will be placed on the same level as a | |
| # “Representatives of 12 religions -- including Christians, Jews, | bandit, the Bedouin, and the thug." - | |
| Muslims, Buddhists, Shintoists and followers of tribal religions | anonymous 19th century young man | |
| took part”, CNN.com, Jan. 24, 2002 | ||
| x | ||
| & Boston Globe, September 28, 2006, “Cost of War Nearly $2 | ||
| billion per week”. This was prior to more recent Administration . | ||
| supplemental appropriations requests, and does not include costs | "I don't think we should be over there. I don't think it's about | |
| for the proposed “surge”, nor long term costs for veterans health | x | justice and liberty, I think it's about economics. The big oil |
| and mental health care, interest on the related debt, etc. | corporations have a lot to do with what is going on over | |
| x | there. We are risking people's lives for money." - | |
| + San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 16, 2007 | Patricia Biggs | |
| xx | ||
| @ Announcement for UN High Commission on Refugees | ||
| (UNHCR) conference on displacement, April 17 and 18, 2007. | ||
| “Close to 2 million Iraqis are displaced within Iraq, and about | "Now I don't think there should be even a thing - | |
| 2 million are outside, mostly in Syria, Jordan and nearby | called war . . .cause it messes up a person's mind." | |
| countries.” | x | Charles Hutto |
| x | ||
| * Reuters, “Iraq: The Facts on Displaced Persons | ||
| and Refugees”, March 1, 2007. | ||
| People of Faith and Community Leaders of WNY | ||
| x | ||
| With 150% of the vote in, the Iraqis are
prepared to declare a winner."
- inspired
by David Letterman Waving a flag in times of war is another thing I question. I see too many signs that say "Support Our Troops," or "God Bless America." I support the men and women in Afghanistan and Iraq, but I support neither war. Thus if I were to say that I supported the troops, I would be a hypocrite, since supporting them implies being in favor of the war. Nonetheless, I feel for these human beings and pray for them and for a quick end to the war. What about those in power who sent these individuals to fight without body armor or adequate protection in their hummers? "God Bless America" is wonderful phrase but what about the innocent men, women and children of Iraq? They have suffered through Hussein's long war against Iran and the endless bombs falling in early 1991 during Operation Desert Storm. The current war there is worst than that of a decade ago, as the insurgencies and endless warfare have made surviving a challenge in itself. Perhaps the sign should read "God Bless Iraq!" Those sayings that you see on cars everywhere are a bit misguided. The ribbons that contain them are nothing more than a big-business effort to capitalize on war and disaster. Some people have no shame in how they choose to make a buck! When I heard about the beginning of the Gulf War of 1991, I was ashamed to be an American. Many people thought highly of all the bombs falling and the great fireworks display. Unfortunately, it was neither a show after a sporting event, nor a Hollywood blockbuster. It was all too real and many innocent people were terrified and suffered because negotiations were abandoned. And yet in any war, we are all encouraged to support the effort and proudly wave the flag. Those at the helm seemed to forget what the flag represents. The Founding Fathers established a republic that wasn't perfect but liberty, freedom and justice were the goals that were achieved after fighting the revolution. Two hundred years ago, each star and stripe on the flag represented a state of the union, just as it does today. Nonetheless, waving a flag doesn't imply we can bomb a country in order to crush a brutal regime at the expense of killing innocent men, women and children. It doesn't mean we can imprison others indefinitely without telling them for what reason they are being held; nor can we deny them rights and lawyers to defend them. We certainly are not allowed to torture or kill them. That flag represents freedom, which no longer exists when an administration passes laws that remove our rights and liberties all in the name of national security The flag also represents the fact that we can express our feelings; discourse that is discouraged or ends with imprisonment is in violation of the constitution and Bill of Rights. When the Freedom of Information Act is suppressed even though security is not an issue, we have lost much of what the Founding Fathers fought for over two centuries ago. When an administration fails to use its intelligence services in the way intended, the flag will result in being shredded, one way or the other. The Second Iraq War wouldn't be overly expensive for American taxpayers." Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz on March 27, 2003 "War does not determine who is right, war determine who is left." - Chinese proverb "Those who sacrifice freedom for safety deserve neither." Benjamin Franklin "Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war, in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch, and the blood boils with hate, and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear, and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all their rights unto the leader, and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar." Julius Caesar "We used to wonder where war lived, what it was that made it so vile. And now we realize that we know where it lives, that it is inside ourselves." Albert Camus "When the big guys in Washington dream of transforming the world, it's the little guys who come home in body bags." David Ignatius of the Washington Post "There never was a good war or a bad peace." - Ben Franklin "Where there are too many policemen, there is no liberty. Where there are too many soldiers, there is no peace. Where there are too many lawyers, there is no justice." - Lin Yutang "There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are all one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America." - Barack Obama "Democracy is always a movement of an energized public to make elites responsible - it is at its core and most basic foundation the taking back of one's powers in the face of the misuse of elite power." - Cornel West "Let it be said then that I wrote this book in the absolute conviction that there has never been, nor ever can be a 'good' or worthwhile war." - Farley Mowat, World War II veteran commenting on his 1979 book, And No Birds Sang. "No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices." Edward R. Murrow "Your map tells you that the going has been rapid, but you seem to have forgotten that war is still war, that feet still swell in wet boots, that one can still shiver and ache on the ground all night, that the stomach still contracts when a shell bursts nearby, and that a dead boy with punctured lungs, with the little rivulet of blood dried on his chin, remains a sight that does not bring thoughts of gaiety, organized or otherwise." - Eric Severeid, October 1944 "Human nature, which is the same all the world over, must reject the nightmare of war with all its might." - Neville Chamberlain "It was madness. And there seemed no limit to the reach of that madness. We were destroying the country we fought to save. And that wounded marine was a young man sent out to die by old men trapped in their own grotesque errors, a soldier in an army without a mission except to kill or be killed." Richard N. Goodwin from Remembering America |
"Isn't it singular that no one ever
goes to jail for waging wars, let alone advocating
them? But the jails are filled with those
who want peace. Not to kill is to be a criminal."
- James Simon Kunen "Why, of course, the people don't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war, neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship." - Hermann Goering One of the questions that many people ask is whether the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq are just wars. Here are a few numbers about some wars of yesteryear. World War I - 18 million casualties Gulf War of 1991 - 300,000 casualties Vietnam - 1 million dead, 3 million wounded World War II - 45 million casualties U.S. Civil War - 600,000 dead As everyone knows, war brings with it the disappearance of truth. Journalist and soldier Malcolm Browne verifies this in his fine book, Muddy Boots and Red Socks when he writes, "What I know of the war was what I had gleaned from newspapers, newsreels and popular magazines - the sources which I now know can never be entirely trusted, especially in wartime." He is referring here to the Vietnam War, but it applies to all conflicts. He also adds, "War news may be factually correct but very unrealistic in context, and therefore misleading. (I could add that all news, not just war news, necessarily distorts objective reality to some degree.)" For these reasons, the numbers above can only be estimates. Accurate counting could never be accomplished, for any war. Statistics can be used to distort in any way desired by the user, and they certainly can be debated. Even if the above numbers are higher than the reality, the figures represent precious lives lost. The tonnage of the bombs dropped on Hanoi during the Christmas bombing in 1972 was greater than in all of World War II. It is no wonder that this catastrophe has not been forgotten and probably never will. The carpet-bombing in Vietnam and Cambodia killed innocent human beings as well as devastated the planet. It was also used on Japan by the United States during World War II. As of 2002, since the end of World War II, up to 35 million people have died in approximately 170 wars. Of this number, 90% were civilians and this percentage applies to wars today. Generally speaking the combat always results in the death of the men, women and children trying to avoid the bombing; it is a war against the people, those who want no part of the conflict and are innocent victims. Wars have been fought for too long. Today, war is always unjust because of the weapons used. After studying history, you may find it difficult to conclude that any war is just. The wars of today are vastly different from years past in many ways but many things haven't changed. People still die so that others can profit from it. And indeed the rewards are extraordinary. War discriminates, as people in power who have money are never sent into battle. It is only those without resources who are sent to fight these unnecessary wars. Those sent to Iraq and Afghanistan are the poor and middle class while the leaders usually never go to the front lines or even to the area of conflict, except to proclaim "Mission Accomplished," when the battles are only beginning. Some of these leaders who conceive war have even been draft evaders. Too many men, women and children are affected by war. Anyone in uniform is a son or daughter, husband or wife, brother or sister or cousin or friend, and some fit many of these classifications. The same applies to the dwellers of the country being attacked with bombs and bullets. The death of one individual will cause pain and suffering to numerous families. Multiply that by the number of casualties from war and the price is too unbearable for anyone. Injuries suffered in battle are often overlooked as people are brainwashed into thinking a war injury is a broken leg, a bruise or something that will heal and the person will soon be whole. On the contrary, casualties result in the loss of eyes and limbs and too much pain during and after the event. This does not include the injuries suffered during conflict that are not physical, and probably will never heal. If you add up the total costs of war, you should realize that it would be impossible to get an accurate figure. What will it cost to rebuild the land when the fighting is over? Don't forget about the costs of cleaning up the air, land and water as well. You could spend billions of dollars on reconstruction and the land may still be uninhabitable. What about all the buildings that have existed for centuries as national treasures and the artifacts inside that no longer can be found? The costs are too large for all this damage in order to remove a single leader from power, no matter how ruthless he is. Moreover, I have not even touched on one cost that needs to be included: the value of a human life. How do you determine the worth of a man or woman? We will never know what those who gave their lives or suffered physical or psychological injuries for freedom would have become. The bombs could well have eliminated a person who was to come up with a cure for cancer or a statesman of the caliber of Franklin or Churchill. For this reason alone, war is a great waste and so terribly unjust. People in the church mention that there could be a just war. How can this conclusion be reconciled with Christ's admonition to "Turn the other cheek," as well as the command, "Thou shall not kill" and the commandment, "Love thy neighbor as thyself?" If the military uses "precision bombing," why do we have "collateral damage?" The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are just for oil and the rich getting richer. It is just for the leaders who refuse to consider negotiation, but drop bombs. It is just for the politicians who vote for war but refuse to go themselves or send their children. It is just for the undertakers and criminal corporations that profit from it, such as the weapons manufacturers, chemical plants and contractors that overcharge the taxpayers for their services but refuse to be responsible in any way. The current wars are just like the Vietnam War, the World Wars, the Spanish American War, the Gulf War of 1991 and the U.S. Civil War - really good for absolutely nothing. "We must re-emphasize with all our being, nonetheless, that it is not only nuclear war that must be prevented, but war itself. Today, the scale and the horror of modern warfare make it totally unacceptable as a means of settling differences between nations. War should belong to the tragic past, to history; it should find no place on humanity's agenda for the future." - 1983 pastoral letter of the U.S. bishops "Memory and imagination are the greatest deterrent to war." - Santayana |
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