Educating for Resistance in the “War Pools”
What Next for the Peace Movement?
By Nick Mottern, Director, ConsumersforPeace.org
Where are We with Politics and Boycott
(This article makes broad suggestions, a type of article that I am always hesitant to write. But I think we in the peace movement are at a decisive moment in our efforts to try to save lives, and I hope you will find the following useful. I would appreciate your thoughts on the ideas presented. You may email me at nickmottern@earthlink.net)
We have seen in the last several weeks every indication that the Congress will not stop the Iraq War any time soon, nor will it do anything to reduce the likelihood of an attack against Iran. The Afghanistan War continues to be seen as “the good war” and, like the Iraq War, it sucks in more and more lives. Remarkable as it may seem to people who experienced Viet Nam, we are involved in Viet Nam style colonial wars without end.
These are wars that have been generated largely by men who, in one way and another, were able to avoid fighting in Viet Nam. But they have capitalized on the deep feeling that flows through many Americans, including people too young to know what Viet Nam was, that somehow we “lost” in Viet Nam because American politicians were too weak to stay the course.
This anger and resentment has been combined by politicians with the fear of terrorist attacks generated by 9/11 to produce a powerful fuel that propels the new wars, over and above the normal propellants of poverty, racism, machismo, war profits and the drive to capture resources.
Thus fortified, the Washington leadership, isolated by wealth and power and able to field a military force of lower-income people and mercenaries without risking sons and daughters, has all the time in the world to play geopolitical chess with everyone’s lives but their own.
Tragically, the same thing appears to be true for the vast majority of Americans. U.S. public opinion about the war seems to be geared to the daily perception of whether the U.S. is “winning” rather than concerns about the legality and morality of detaining, torturing and killing to maintain control of resources.
Voluntary censorship by the U.S. press of images of wounded and dead Iraqis and Americans, that would expose the human costs of occupation on a daily basis, allows the public to focus on “winning” rather than the price of “winning”.
The peace movement is therefore presented with the unfinished business of Viet Nam, which, in my opinion, is the need for methodical grassroots education on the issue of colonial war/ intervention and alternative approaches to maintaining our economy and culture.
By education on colonial war I mean education that examines the basic purposes of the current and past wars of intervention and/or occupation in terms of capturing resources and power. It examines also the ways in which patriotism, other “isms” and outright lies have been used to justify colonial wars and to sooth the personal and social injuries of these wars. Finally it examines the tactics of such wars and the types of war crimes that invariably accompany interventions and occupations.
This education, I believe, needs to be focused first on men and women in the military and those most likely to join the military. In the face of Congress’ failure to reverse the drive to war, the resistance of military people and potential recruits becomes even more critical.
The educational program would not only provide military people with information on how they fit into the history of U.S. colonial warfare but how the government has been able to take advantage of the economic and social conditions of the society to build a colonial fighting force.
For example, one factor that appears to encourage young men to join the military right out of high school is the possibility of a “job” that can enable a group of high school buddies to stick together after graduation and to travel and share adventure. This power of friendship fits perfectly into the need of the military to have units that will fight if for no other reason than for the members of the unit to protect each other. Interviews of troops in Iraq often reveal soldiers who see no purpose in fighting there other than for mutual support in combat situations.
One of the most important challenges of systematic grassroots education for counter-recruiting is to develop actual job and educational opportunities for young people in their communities or in other parts of the country or the world. This is something that can require a good deal of outreach and coordination by national and local peace groups directed toward potential employers and colleges. Colleges need to be encouraged to expand scholarships to counter military recruitment that preys on young people who see a lack of educational opportunity.
Mechanisms for colonial war education directed toward the military audience include speaking tours and expanded educational work in communities with military bases. Veterans for Peace has undertaken tours to military bases, and Iraq Veterans Against the War is planning educational outreach at military bases. Citizen Soldier has opened The Different Drummer café at Camp Drum in upper New York State to provide a continuing opportunity for talking to troops. However, there is a need to dramatically increase the educational work in the most-frequented fishing grounds of the military.
The War Pools
An article in the January 6, 2007 Financial Times said that a disproportionate number of Iraq War casualties come from small communities in rural America. The ratio of dead in relation to the state’s share of the national population, the newspaper reported, is 221 percent for South Dakota, 178 percent for Nebraska and 163 percent for Louisiana.
Texas may well be the state most in need of grassroots education on colonial war. According to StateMaster.com, Texas sent the most recruits in all services in 2004 (15,594) and had the second most Iraq war casualties as of June, 2006 (222). California had the highest number of casualties at that time, 255. In Texas, Fort Worth and a variety of small communities seem to have been hit hard.
Other states high on the list in need of grassroots work based on recruitment and casualty statistics are: California, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi and Oklahoma.
The American Friends Service Committee website shows a map of the locations in New York City with highest recruiting rates, offering insight into one way of setting priorities for educational work. www.afsc.org/nymetro/specialprojects/recruitmentmaps.htm.
Political factors can also help in setting priorities for colonial war education.
The War Pols
Congress has a responsibility to keep the U.S. out of colonial wars and intervention, and thus there is a need to do educational work in the states and Congressional districts of members of Congress who are key to war-making. Having said that, and before discussing several members, I wish to say again that I think the first priority in education should be the military audience.
While the House of Representatives has produced the largest body of proposed legislation to attempt to reverse the expansion of hostilities, the Senate is being viewed by some analysts as the main obstacle to passage of anti-war legislation.
Sen. Mitch McConnell R-KY, the Republican leader in the Senate, has been particularly effective in blocking anti-war legislation and is viewed as a solid rock for the Administration on war issues. However, Senator McConnell is up for reelection in 2008, and he may be more vulnerable than is now apparent, according to a source in Kentucky, particularly if he has to run against a charismatic opponent.
Kentucky is #21 in Iraq war casualties, according to the StateMaster statistics, with 41 dead by June of 2006; it is #23 in deaths per capita; and #20 in total recruits in 2004 at 2,109. Kentucky hosts Fort Campbell, near Hopkinsville in southern Kentucky, home of the 101st Airborne Division, and Fort Knox, near Louisville, home to the Army Armor Center and the U.S. Army Recruiting Command. There are 36,149 active duty military personnel stationed in Kentucky, according to About.com, and 18,538 in the Reserve and National Guard.
Other Republican senators who have supported the Iraq War and who may be vulnerable in 2008, according to a anti-war lobbyist in Washington, include:
Sen. John Warner R-VA – Virginia is #9 in Iraq war casualties, with 75 dead; it is #21 in deaths per capita; and it was #7 in recruits with nearly 5,000 in 2004. Virginia has a wide variety of significant Army, Navy and Marine, Air Force and Coast Guard bases, with active duty personnel numbering 80,132; and Reserve and Guard numbering nearly 40,000.
Sen. Susan Collins R-ME - Maine is one of five states with 12 war deaths and is listed by Statemaster.com as #42 in war deaths; #32 in deaths per capita; and #36 in recruits in 2004, at 792. Brunswick Naval Air Station is the only major military base in Maine. The state has 2,136 active duty military personnel and nearly 8,000 in the Reserve and National Guard.
Sen. John E. Sununu, R-NH – New Hampshire is listed as #42 in war deaths also with 12 casualties; #31 in deaths per capita; and #37 in recruitment in 2004 at 635. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is New Hampshire’s major military base and the state has only 376 active duty military personnel; there are 5,738 in the state’s Reserve and National Guard.
Sen. Norm Coleman D-MN - Minnesota is #28 in Iraq War deaths, with 33 casualties; and it is #48 in deaths per capita; in 2004, it had 2,000 Army, Navy and Air Force recruits, ranking #21. Minnesota has no significant military bases and has 862 active duty military personnel and 24,219 in the Reserve and National Guard, according to About.com.
It is worth noting that Senators Warner, Collins and Coleman spoke against the Iraq “surge” in the latter part of January 2007. However, Senator Warner was a co-sponsor of an amendment to the current war appropriations bill that would have removed any mention of a deadline for troop withdrawal from Iraq, and all the senators mentioned above voted for the amendment. The amendment failed by a vote of 50 to 48. Two Republicans, Senator Chuck Hagel – NB and Senator Gordon Smith – OR, voted with the majority to kill the amendment and keep the non-binding Mar. 31, 2008 deadline.
Iran
With respect to Iran, it is very likely that we are in deeper water than we know. A U.S. attack against Iran seems more and more probable, and this increases the urgency to inform the military about our history of colonial war and to encourage resistance to combat with Iran.
Money and Coordination
In dealing with Iraq, the national peace movement has focused on mass marches and mass media to bring us to this point. But this is may be the place beyond which we cannot go without funding a well-planned, coordinated grassroots education campaign focusing on the military, engaging many groups and extending over at least a several year period.
The following organizations are doing important work directed toward the military, and they deserve generous financial support: