South Bend Community Forum on the War in Iraq
March 22, 2003
............................
Today's Community Forum about the War in Iraq was held at Century Center, sponsored by SB Common Council. The Common Council didn't present the anti-war resolution because according to Charlotte Pfeifer, they would have no votes for it and she didn't feel that it was appropriate to present it. Since 160 cities including the largest 3 in the US have passed this, I'm still not clear why our council couldn't even present it for a vote on March 10. More reason to have a Green on board.
The welcome was given by Karen White, president of the SB Common Council. Mayor Luecke gave opening comments and revealed that he is a conscientious objector and that we should all be respectful of differing views in a democracy.
Ellyn Stecker of the Michiana Coalition for Peace & Justice gave an overview of the war and its possible impact on the South Bend/Michiana community. Since she's a physician, she's especially concerned about health care for troops once they return and humanitarian care for the Iraqi people.
Jeanette Simon of the Red Cross spoke on the neutrality of the Red Cross and reminded us that the American RC was founded on a battlefield during the Civil War. They provide the liason between military families here and the soldiers directly involved. Their 'Quality of Life' campaign can be contacted to send care packages to the troops. Their phone is 574-234-0191.
Bill Wilson, an attorney for Civil Liberties, spoke about the freedoms that this war (and the one on terrorism) is requiring people to give up and how difficult they are to retrieve afterwards. He cited the NY attorney arrested in the mall for wearing a 'Give Peace a Chance' t-shirt as one of many incidents that should worry us. Yesterday there was an Iraqi man arrested in Elkhart with no information given to him or to the public about the charges. He mentioned the detainees that are being jailed while they await verdicts, often allowed no contact with their families. An African American woman who is muslim by faith, spoke about having the INS come to her 70 yr old father's home here in South Bend this week at 5:30AM demanding their 'papers'. These are American citizens with Muslim names. The INS later arrived at her sister and brother's houses, barging in and walking through the homes. Sounds like terrorism and racial profiling to me and a heck of a lot like Nazi Germany.
Dr. Paul Mishler, Labor Studies, IUSB, said the area unions are divided on the war, but that the AFL-CIO has formally opposed it and this is unprecedented. The common belief that war can be a boost to the economy is a misunderstanding of war and economy. We no longer have an economy based in manufacturing but in service, public and private. War will drive all these costs up and will lead to more cuts in education, health services, budgets. In a rebuttal to anti-war protests being unsupportive to the troops: The peace movement actually supports the troops staying alive and we want them brought home. The criticism is putting the onus of support on citizens instead of the government-what happened to VietNam vets is continuing to happen. They have been fighting for years to win lawsuits over health problems resulting from Agent Orange and in the 1st Gulf War, from depleted uranium and other problems. The government discards the soldiers after it's used them. We must change that. Check out US Labor Against War.
Caroline Peterson is a math teacher at Washington High School and NEA South Bend President. Her words were the most chilling. Students since 9/11 have more fears and more grief yet they're seeing this war as no big deal; there are no sacrifices that are demanded of them as there were in the two World Wars. No rationing, nothing material to give up. They have no previous experience with other wars, some being too young to remember the 1st Gulf War. They see this as just another war video game and are desensitized to death and war. They have no depth of comprehension of the seriousness of its meaning for their future. The US media approach may be altering this significantly through the propagandizing of corporate reportage--war is glorious and satisfying since we're always the good guys who win--and check out all those glitzy graphics! Meanwhile, the kids can find justification for their beliefs, sometimes extreme, on the internet.
There was one young student, Dianne de Guzman, who writes for the Next Generation column in the SB Tribune, who did speak about the conflicts of youth who are opposed to war and those who will serve. She emphasized that the young are always the predominant group who serve in the armed forces. She quoted a Philippine leader saying, 'Youth is the hope of the land', and proposed that education will be the most important enlightening factor to prevent future wars.
Vicki Webb is a member and officer of the St. Joe Valley Greens.St. Joe Valley Greens, South Bend, IN