Iraq

I generally do not start the day with a newspaper in my hand, but travels and hotels can occasion such moments. Thursday’s USA Today headline was as bold as the banner on the aircraft carrier that announced, prematurely, closure to the Iraq invasions in 2003. The Iraqi government will buy $3 billion of US weapons and equipment: Humvees, 40,000 – 60,000 M-16 rifles, aircraft and helicopters. Half of the purchases have already been made. “Give it another five, six or eight years and you could be talking about deals that put the Saudis to shame,” one U.S. official was quoted as saying. Enough said.

As the value of a "Summer Holiday Oil Tax Break" is being debated between the presidential candidates, Oil companies are benefiting from the raise oil prices and wind fall profits. This windfall profits and high oil prices flow directly from an unwise, immoral, and illegal war on the precious people of Iraq.

Consumers for Peace has launched a campaign to hold at least one of these companies accountable and call upon them break with the conventional wisdom of capitalism and share in the wisdom of peace and justice.

Kudos to the Mid-Missouri chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. They organized a vigil to mark the 4,000th U.S. servicemember's death in Iraq and got good coverage by the Missourian and TV station KOMU.

Today brought the sober news of four more deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq, which according to numerous sources means that more than 4,000 U.S. service members have died during the five years of occupation of Iraq. Local actions are being held across the country in observation of this terrible statistic. This evening, protests are being held in Manhattan, in DC in front of the White House, and elsewhere.

My friend Liza Sabater posted a blog entry reminding readers to remember the 23 Senators who voted against authorizing the war in Iraq.

Here's the list of US Senators who dared to say "NO" to the war in Iraq:

Yesterday, on the 5th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, members of the Fellowship of Reconciliation lifted up their voices across the globe in protest of the war and the continuing occupation of Iraq.

March 17th is celebrated as a holiday in many U.S. communities, and as the descendant of Irish immigrants -- and having been named after an ancestor who was a renowned Irish-American patriot during the Revolutionary War, Ethan Allen -- normally I'd like to feel a measure of pride in our nation.

Tomorrow begins two days of events related to the Interfaith Peace Witness in Washington, DC, organized by the new national coalition of religious groups working to end the war in Iraq. I will be heading to DC to meet with dozens of faith community leaders tomorrow evening (facilitated by the Fellowship of Reconciliation), and will then participate with hundreds of others in a major religious gathering on Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m., to be held outdoors in Upper Senate Park.

“I’ve been lied to.” “I feel crazy.” “I can’t do this anymore.”

As a counselor with the GI Rights Network, a group of activists that offers advice to soldiers who are seeking information about how to get out the military, these are the kinds of comments I often hear from people who call our hotline.

The stories these callers have to tell are always different but the theme is often the same: “I feel alone and I don’t have a place where my story will be heard.”

Five years into the military occupation of Iraq, it’s no secret that soldiers are coming home from tours of duty with devastating physical and emotional trauma from combat. Doctors and therapists can try to treat these wounds but it takes a larger movement to break the sense of isolation that many soldiers feel about their experiences.

Eight stories of civil dissent and resistance are woven together in 80 minutes of action to remind us that passionate individuals can take stands to persuade others to follow. Here, to follow means to join the growing chorus of voices calling US troops out of Iraq, by marching, talking, writing, in vigils and lobbying.