Monday, January 24, 2011

A New Jersey veteran's hope for Iraq

This guest column by VFP Chapter 21 member Michael McPherson ran in the Newark Star-Ledger on January 16, 2011.

By Michael T. McPhearson
 
Twenty years ago this month, I sat in the vast wilderness of the Arabian desert as a captain in the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division, waiting to invade Iraq. That campaign — which was to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait — began on Jan. 16, 1991.

I remember wondering how many of us would die, how many would return home scarred or broken. Would I ever see my wife and 5-year-old son again? I never imagined U.S. troops would still be fighting there — 11 years into the next century.

After I left the Army in 1992, I paid little attention to U.S. activities in Iraq, although I knew that our forces never ended military operations there. Containment was the policy.

Operation Southern Watch, begun in August 1992 to enforce a no fly-zone over southern Iraq, did not officially end until 2003. There were Operations Vigilant Warrior in 1994 and Desert Strike in 1996, which expanded the no fly-zone to parts of northern Iraq. There was Operation Desert Fox, a four-day bombing campaign launched on Dec. 16, 1998.

One summer day in 2001, I saw activists in New York City holding a sign reporting that half a million Iraqi children had died, due in part to U.S.-led economic sanctions. I began to feel some responsibility. Then, 9/11 happened and the drum beat for more war on Iraq began anew. By that time, the United States had been dropping bombs on Iraq for 10 years.

Today, when most Americans think of Iraq, the March 20, 2003, invasion is the date they remember. That is far from reality.

In December of that year, as part of a peace delegation of military families and veterans, I visited Baghdad. The city was bustling with people going about their lives, yet bombed-out buildings served as a backdrop and access to basics such as water and electricity was unpredictable. Sectarian violence had not yet exploded, but many people — especially women — feared for their safety.

The delegation met with an Iraqi human rights activist who, through an interpreter, shared the perspective of many Iraqis. The man, who appeared to be in his late 50s, told us that “… all the Iraqi suffering is because of the Americans.” He explained that Saddam Hussein’s Baath party cronies, who came to power via a 1968 coup, boasted back then of having U.S. help. He went on to remind us of the 1991 invasion and the following decade of misfortune under U.S.-led economic sanctions. He spoke of the March 2003 invasion and occupation mounted by the United States to remove the dictator it helped put into power. Our nation, he said, has meddled in his country’s affairs for more than 40 years. His feelings were reiterated by many other Iraqis I spoke with over the course of my visit.

Since then, I have returned to Iraq seeking peace, my 5-year-old son grew up and, like his father, served a tour waging war in Iraq. In 2009, the Obama administration declared the end of U.S. combat missions in Iraq, U.S. troop levels have been reduced to 50,000 and the United States has pledged to remove all troops by the end of this year.

We helped place Saddam Hussein into power and supported him, expecting him to act in our interest, and the Iraqi people have paid a high price for his removal. Today, unemployment in Iraq is estimated as high as 30 percent. Electricity continues to be sporadic and, in many parts of the country, clean water is not readily available. Birth defects in areas of heavy fighting, such as Fallujah, have increased due to the use of uranium munitions by U.S. forces. Sectarian violence, while low compared to 2004, continues to take lives and destroy families.

Forty years of meddling and 20 years of war are enough. We must not allow the Obama administration to drag its feet or back out of leaving Iraq.

Freedom is the ability to chart one’s own destiny, not have it decided by a power thousands of miles away. We owe it to the Iraqi people. They have suffered enough.

Michael T. McPhearson was a field artillery officer in the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division during Desert Shield/Desert Storm, also known as Gulf War I. A Newark resident, McPhearson is the co-convener of United for Peace and Justice, and former executive director of Veterans for Peace.

© 2011 NJ.com. All rights reserved.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Why I Work for Peace

Address by Joann Dalton in accepting a local organizer award at the Jersey City Peace Movement's recent Peace and Progress Honors Awards ceremony.

Thank you very much for this award. I am very honored. For those of you that don't know me, I am an associate member of Veterans for Peace chapter 21, a lifetime member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and also a member of New Jersey Peace Action. I am most active with Veterans for Peace, doing a lot of the behind the scenes work .Many times calling myself the administrative assistant to VFP's president who happens to be my husband.This can involve arranging trips to Washington DC, keeping his appointments straight, and also filling in for the secretary and/or treasurer  of the chapter when needed. I also participate in a weekly vigil in Teaneck, table at street fairs, and most recently attended a counter-recruitment call from a frantic mother about her son who wants to join the military. At times I also try to knock some sense into the right-wingers I work with.  Although mostly all I get from that is frustration.


I'd like to explain a little about my back ground and how I got here. As a child, I was raised in a family who had lost someone killed in  war. My mother's brother a co-pilot in the Air Force during WWII was shot down in the Pacific by the Japanese.Back then they flew in formation and the plane above him got hit and then fell on his plane. At the time I didn't understand my mother and grandmother. I thought it happened such a long time ago, why were they still upset?  I can honestly say that both my mother and grandmother never really got over my uncle's death.One reason being that my mother was pregnant with my sister about the same time my uncle was killed. In fact, they didn't tell my hospitalized mother until she came home with my sister because they were afraid she would lose the baby So every time my sister had a birthday, they were reminded of the awful news they received about the same time. My grandmother could have been a Gold Star Mother, but refused because she felt that would be celebrating my uncle's death.  Now I've come to realize how much his death has impacted my feelings as an adult. I know first hand how war and the resulting problems it causes can affect a family the rest of their lives. When the Iraq and Afghanistan wars started at first I got active because I didn't want my son or daughter going to war, but soon realized I didn't want anybody's son or daughter going to war. About the same time I  also figured out why my anti war feelings were so strong--because of my Uncle Steve who I never had the opportunity to meet.

Just to show how futile war is, I'd like to tell you one more story this one involving our son. In the spring of 2009,  as a student at Rutgers University , Brian studied abroad for a semester, in Kyoto, Japan at Ritsuimeiken University . While there he met Hero, a Japanese student studying at the same school. That summer, Hero came to visit the United States to try to improve his English. Part of his trip he stayed with my son in Brian's off campus housing. But during one of NJ's heat waves, Brian called and asked if he and Hero could come stay with us for the weekend and enjoy some air conditioning. So they spent some time with us. While taking some pictures of Hero and my son Brian, we realized ---just one generation ago they would have been expected to kill each other .Instead, here were two young men who had become good friends.

Once again,  Thank you and Let's keep our activism going strong.



Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Case Dismissed re Vets Arrested at White House Protest

Judge Dismisses Cases Against Military Veterans and Anti-war Activists Following December 16th Washington, D.C. Arrests
 For more information, contact:  Ann Wilcox (202-441-3265)
Tarak Kauff (845-249-9489)

Washington, D.C. – January 4, 2011:  Anti-war military veterans and other activists celebrated a breakthrough victory today in DC Superior Court, when charges were dropped, following arrests in front of the White House, on December 16, 2010.  Over 131 people were arrested in a major veteran-led protest while participating in non-violent civil resistance in a driving snowstorm.  US Park Police charged all 131 protesters with “Failure to Obey a Lawful Order,” when they refused to move.  All remained fixed to the White House fence demanding an end to the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and further US aggression in the region. 

Among those arrested were members of the leadership of the national organization Veterans for Peace , Pentagon Papers whistleblower Dr. Daniel Ellsberg; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges; former senior CIA analyst Ray McGovern; and,  Dr. Margaret Flowers, advocate for single-payer health care. 

Forty-Two arrested opted to appear in court and go to trial with the first group appearing in DC Superior Court on January 4, 2011.  Prosecutors from the DC Attorney General’s office stated that the Government “declined to file charges due to missing or incomplete police paperwork.”  Presiding Magistrate Judge Richard Ringell confirmed that the cases were dropped and defendants were free to leave.

Those who participated in this action make this statement:
This is clearly a victory for opposition to undeclared wars which are illegal under international law, have led to the destruction of societies in Iraq and Afghanistan, bled the US Treasury in a time of recession, and caused human rights violations against civilians and combatants.   Many of us will return to Washington, DC, to support an action on Tuesday, January  11, 2011 to protest the continued use of Guantanamo detention facility, including torture of detainees in violation of international law.”

The defendants  were represented by co-counsels Ann Wilcox, Esq. and Mark Goldstone, Esq.  Ms. Wilcox stated:  “clearly the Government and Police felt that these veterans and their supporters acted with the courage of their convictions, and did not wish to spend the time and funds necessary for a trial proceeding.  This is a major victory for the peace movement.” 

For more information visit www.stopthesewars.org or on facebook.