At this writing, in late September, the Bush Administration appears intent on invading Iraq, despite widespread skepticism in the public and virtually unanimous global opposition. The global opposition, however, will not stop the Bush Administration's war plans; the only thing that could conceivably stop it is if the political cost in the U.S. is too high. And since leading
Democrats are also on the bloody bandwagon (Seattle's own Jim McDermott, to his credit, is one of the courageous exceptions), that means widespread public opposition is our only hope -- before and after any Congressional vote or U.N. Security Council resolution, and before or after the actual start of any invasion.
Iraq, of course, is only part of a much larger problem; we now, officially, live in the most powerful military state in the history of humanity, and one of the most truculent. The recent report to Congress by the Bush Administration on the U.S. National Security Policy (published in its chilling entirety on Sep. 20 by the New York Times; go to nytimes.com and do
a search for "Bush's National Security Strategy") lays it out with astonishing honesty. The United States intends to invade any country that does not run its economy and government -- or more accurately, allow America to run it -- exactly as America wants, which is to say, with a few people getting very rich and the rest of us either impoverished or massacred. It's a
terrifying document, and details better than any Chomsky text could why resistance to the American Empire is a moral necessity.
With that as backdrop, the task at hand is to create and channel public outrage over the proposed invasion of Iraq. This is viewed with skepticism across the ideological board; to maximize the scope of the opposition, we need to keep our talking points as specific as possible. Depnding on your own beliefs, your audience, and your goals, hee are a few suggestions as to why a massacre -- such a one-sided invasion shouldn't be dignified by the term "war" -- should be prevented, or, if already begun, ended:
1) It's Illegal And Immoral President Dubya can proclaim "preemptive attack" rationales and buy U.N. votes all he wants. Without being attacked by another country, the U.S. has no right to either invade that country or replace its government. (Oh, and by the way: With who? Or what?) The precedent of invasion to "prevent" a perceived threat is disastrous. India, Israel, and Russia all promptly used Dubya's pretext of "harboring terrorists" to their own bloody benefit; a green light for invading weaker countries could lead to escalation of any of the dozens of wars throughout the world. Forget Neville Chamberlain -- the party threatening to preemptively annex foreign countries now is the United States, not Iraq.
2) It Won't Be Easy The U.S. has lopsided military superiority, but most Iraqis (along with most of the rest of the world) blame the U.S. for their massive suffering and death over the last decade. They won't cheer and waving flags as Kansans march into Baghdad. What would we do in this country if a twentieth of our people -- every person in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, and then some -- had died by the callous hand of some arrogant foreign government? Which now insisted on assassinating our leader and taking over? It would make 9/11 look like a skirmish, and Black Hawk Down like a tea party. Nobody likes uninvited foreign soldiers in their city. So...
3) Lots Of People Will Die Not many U.S. soldiers, of course; our advantage is too overwhelming. But contrary to Bush PR spin, if the Pentagon has a choice between killing lots of civilians and losing a few soldiers, Iraq's civilians are dead meat, even more so than in Afghanistan or Kosovo. Beyond Iraq, invasion would also inflame anti-Americanism and make targets of both Israel and our "moderate" dictator buddies in the region. It could easily trigger a regional conflagration far beyond the ability of the U.S. to control. Invasion would incite anti-American terrorism everywhere -- including here. The invasion of Afghanistan was a recruiting boon for radical Islamic fundamentalists, but nothing compared to what an Iraq invasion would bring. Radical Muslims hate Saddam, but the spectacle of still more Muslim blood being spilled in the Middle East at our hands will, as nothing else, make every person living in *this* country a target.
4) It Will Cause An Environmental Catastrophe The good possibility is oilfield fires that would dwarf Kuwait in 1991. The bad one is that Saddam Hussein really does have chemical or biological weapons, in which case, he'd be insane (which he's not) to use them -- except as a last ditch effort to maintain power. Or, they could be released accidentally through military
attack.
5) Our Economy Will Tank It's already in far more precarious shape than we've generally been told. Stocks would plummet, gas prices would soar. And concessions to the EU to gain support for an invasion would involve trade concessions -- meaning a loss of price supports for farmers and other industries seemingly having nothing to do with Saddam Hussein, exactly at a time when they can least afford it.
6) War Is A Crime Against Humanity Even among those who believe in things like "just war," it should be the last resort, not, as in America, the first. But in truth it should be no resort at all. Killing is wrong. And as a response to 9/11 or any other precedent, a previous wrong does not make it right; it makes two wrongs, the second one usually worse and usually not the last.
The bottom line: an invasion will kill lots of people, wound our economy, create environmental catastrophes, set horrific international precedents, inflame a volatile region, incite anti-Americanism everywhere, and put all of us at far greater risk of terrorist attack here -- exactly what we set out to prevent in the original, long-forgotten premise of the War On Terror.
And, interestingly, very much the scenario Osama bin Laden dreamed of a year ago.
Time to get busy. --Geov Parrish
Welcome to the Autumn 2002 issue of the newsletter of the Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia. For those who don't know us, we've been around since 1979. Our activities include operating the country's largest escrow account of taxes resisted due to conscientious objection to military spending, and responsibly reinvesting those monies; granting a large percentage of the resulting income to peace and other social justice organizing efforts, usually ones that involve direct action or other components not usually amenable to grants; providing war tax resistance counselling, nonviolence trainings and other support for direct action and other anti-war organizing in Western Washington; serving as the Seattle area affiliate of War Resisters League and the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee; and, lastly, serving as a support group for our core group of committed activists who find ourselves awash in crazy times.
We find ourselves, as peace-loving people in a country whose leaders are drunk on war, often overwhelmed with the enormity of the horror unfolding around us, a horror as often as not committed in our names. Some of us are motivated to bear witness, some are determined to bring change, some both. But for all of us, it's a source of both solace and hope to know that we're
not alone. We have each other -- all of us in this movement -- we have a city and region with a long history of resistance and a vibrant local radical political scene, and we have hope. And, hard as it can be to muster as we head into what may be another grim winter, we can also have fun and humor and light. Must have it, actually.
Ours is a modest newsletter, meant largely to promote what we do and to get people thinking and (hopefully) inspired to act. We welcome any and all newcomers, escrow account depositors, and contributions to further our work; but regardless of whether it is with NACC, some other activist group, or simply agitating in your own life, the important thing is that we all act. It's an overused word of late, but the actions being taken by this country's government are of the greatest evil; the worst we can do is to do nothing.
A number of responses to Iraq are being convened or planned on short notice; coalitions, groups, and events are likely to shift and spring up quickly. The best local resource for upcoming events -- meetings, contact info, marches, rallies, forums, direct action -- is Jean Buskin's Peace Calendar. It has literally hundreds of listing, updated daily.
As happened during the Gulf War, two broad coalitions seem to be forming: one specifically committed to nonviolence, the other -- convened in part by Worker's World -- making no stand on tactics. The former is SNOW -- Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War. The latter is, for now, calling itself the No War Against Iraq coalition. Contact info for both is available in Jean's calendar.
Another major, visible effort is the Not In Our Name campaign. Nationally, War Resisters League has declined to endorse NION due to its evasiveness over its links with (i.e., founding by) the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP). However, in Seattle and a number of other cities, NION has attracted a much wider range of activists and ideologies.
NION and the No War coalition are planning a major demonstration in Seattle on Saturday, Oct. 6; check Jean's calendar for other and future events.
Other groups working on anti-war, Iraq, and Middle East issues include Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation, members of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, Citizens Concerned for the People of Iraq, Palestine Solidarity Committee, American Friends Service Committee, and many others.
For more, see NACC's Peacelinks page.
In response to the U.S. plans for an invasion of Iraq, and more generally the dramatic escalation by the U.S. in foreign interventions, military spending, weapons development, and development of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, war tax resisters in the Pacific Northwest will be meeting next month to discuss developing some sort of joint WTR organizing campaign -- for example, by encouraging tax resistance as a form of protest and resistance against U.S. war efforts. There is no set proposal -- we're open to all ideas!
The meeting will be Saturday, Oct. 19, from 10:30 AM to 4:00 PM, in Portland, in the conference room of a store called Tibet Spirit -- 4125 SE Hawthorne in Southeast Portland.
Please pre-register! Housing is available for Friday and/or Saturday night for folks coming from out-of-town. There is no cost, though we will pass the hat to cover the nominal cost of the meeting space. For information, directions, and to RSVP, contact the Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia: (206) 547-0952; nacc (at) drizzle (dot) com; or 4554 12th Ave. NE, Seattle WA 98145
I've compiled a list of school age books that speak of peace and equality between peoples. Perhaps you know a young mind that could benefit from visiting the local library and reading one of these volumes. The adults of our planet are not doing a very good job of bringing peace into international affairs. Perhaps if we begin with children, it might be realized through them.
Books on Peace and Justice (Grade level indicated in parenthesis)
How best to honor
the victims and heroes of 9-11?
The greatest number to die on American soils
because the United States of America
is seen, ever more fervently, as The Enemy.
Do we honor them best
by seeking to avenge their horrible passing
at the hands of those we accuse of "hating freedom"
in the tunnels of Afghanistan,
or attacking the of the bunkers of Baghdad
or supporting attacks on the barrios of South America
or where ever else we designate the "enemy of freedom" to be.
Could it be that our attackers,
no less than we,
love freedom?
Could it be that they attack us because we,
with our zest for power and profit,
rob the majority of our fellow human beings
of their equal chance at freedom?
Could it be that no amount
of military might is sufficient
to silence the elusive viral "cells" of anti-Americanism
and restore the sense of security
familiar on American soils
prior to 9-11?
What irony - that very might, itself,
ensures an endless threat of terrorism
against any who weld it
ever more brazenly!
What legacy do we create, then,
for our September fallen:
- complete denial of American complicity
in a, now borderless, global proliferation of attack and counter-attack?
- or the possibility
that the sire of September terror,
the contagion that spawns viral "cells,"
could be American greed?
Would we not greatly enhance the chances of Peace
for the children and grandchildren of 9-11
by seeking to roust "greed" for power and possession
from the tunnels, bunkers and barrios
of our own consciousness?
Would we not be more potent as Peace maker
if we become willing to look, with integrity,
at the history and ongoing fact of our own
profitable contribution to militarism
among the nations of Earth?
Would we not better honor the unprecedented sacrifice of 9-11
with an equally unprecedented
and previously unfathomable resolve to begin:
- divesting ourselves of the military/industrial complex
- and converting resources to the creation of equally powerful
systems
investing in Peace?
Might we not better serve the memory
of all fallen innocents
(whether our own
or those we have come to dismiss as "collateral damage")
by seeking ways to share
rather than horde
wealth?
Let us better honor
the victims and heroes of 9/11
by using the great power
we have gained among nations
to truly defend freedom by better insuring
its availability to all of the family of man?
Let us better honor the memory of all combat fallen
by truly being the "leader of the free world".
in the most difficult of all campaigns -
the quest to end attacks on The Enemy
lest it be the demons which hide within
and, thus, truly lie within our capacity
to route, forever and at last
from the annuls of human experience.
What better Eulogy for the perished of 9-11
than to make their passage
the beginning of the end of bondage
to serial counter-attack of humanity on itself? --A. John Chisholm
Each year, NACC grants a significant part of the interest from the CMTC Escrow Account to local and national (and even international!) groups doing good work. Last Spring, we granted a total of $8,700, spread among seven groups: Appalachian Peace and Justice Network (in Athens, Ohio); Books to Prisoners (Seattle); Ekta Parishad (Bhopal, India); National War Tax
Resistance Coordinaing Committee (national); Peace Action Wisconsin (Milwaukee); Ruckus Collective (national), and Washington Peace Center (Washington DC).
This summer, we asked our grant recipients how things were going with the modest funds we sent along. Here are some of the replies:
"With our grant money, NWTRCC has hired someone to do revisions on our publication War Tax Resisters and the IRS. This is our most technical publication, and it offers accessible information for folks who are wondering what the repercussions of their war tax resistance decisions will be. There's a flow chart on the back, and detailed facts on the inside. We plan to have
this publication finished by late winter/early spring." -- Mary Loehr, National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee
"'Democracy Requires Dissent'" is going great here at the Appalachian Peace & Justice Network. Our 'shadow government' has formed and named itself the Sunshine Watch (casting light on all things shadow-y). They have issued a press release, been interviewed on the radio, and have had at least six letters to the editor published in the papers. Their focus is highlighting the curtailment of civil liberties with the Patriot Act and staying out of Iraq. We have scheduled a street performance workshop 'Democracy Requires Dissent: Taking it to the Streets' Participants in the workshop will then travel to local festivals and fairs in rural Appalachia to perform their vignettes. A panel of activists from civil rights to the environment will participate in a discussion 'Democracy Requires Dissent: The Faces of Activism'. We are in discussion with representatives from Peaceful Tomorrows for a speaker. And we have yet to schedule our non-violent protest (marches)
training and the street speaking/soap box workshop..." -- Christie Truly, Appalachian Peace & Justice Network
"We have spent two thirds of the grant we received from NACC. That two-thirds, $1000, has been spent on postage to send packages of books to prisoners (at no charge to the prisoner) in Washington and across the U.S. We plan to spend the remaining $500 on high-demand and hard-to-get books such as dictionaries, Spanish-English dictionaries and progressive titles, once we have determined the most cost-effective way to do so." -- Andy, Books To Prisoners, Seattle
Naturally, we'll be doing this again next year -- with, hopefully, more money (your donations also help!) to go to a new batch of worthy causes. Like yours. This year, the application deadline was March 1 and winners were announced for tax season; the 2003 application should be posted here on our web site by early 2003, or contact the NACC office after the first of the year for information and an application packet at (206) 547-0952, or nacc (at) drizzle (dot) com.
Nonviolent Action is published biannually by the Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia (NACC), formerly the Conscience and Military Tax Campaign.
Editor: Geov Parrish, Layout: Eddie Tews.
NACC, 4554 12th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98105, (206) 547-0952, nacc (at) drizzle (dot) com, http://seanacc.org/.
The Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia is a Seattle-based organization which uses nonviolent direct action to create political and social change. NACC acts to interrupt and transform militarism and other forms of violence, and to build a society based upon community, economic justice, environmental awareness, personal empowerment, and feminist, queer-positive and anti-racist principles.
NACC uses creative nonviolent direct action, war tax resistance, public education, grants to activist groups, and coalition building towards these ends, creating community and developing empowerment and conflict-resolution skills in the process.
NACC has an office staffed part-time by Geov Parrish, Scott McClay, and Eddie Tews. We welcome new members. For more information, contact us at the address, phone number, or e-mail address above.
NACC is an affiliate of the War Resisters League, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, and the Northwest Disarmament Coalition.
The Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia
4554-12th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105. An affiliate of the
War Resisters League and NWTRCC
Tel: (206) 547-0952, Fax: (206) 547-2631. E-mail: nacc (at) drizzle (dot) com