February 2003

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

From the editor's desk

"In the days ahead we must not consider it unpatriotic to raise certain basic questions about our national character. We must begin to ask, "Why are there forty million poor people in a nation overflowing with such unbelievable affluence? Why has our nation placed itself in the position of being God's military agent on earth? Why have we substituted the arrogant undertaking of policing the whole world for the high task of putting our own house in order?"

--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It's always a temptation to quote Martin in times of trouble--a worthy temptation and one we readily give in to. This issue of Peacework, from the closing memorial tributes to Philip Berrigan and Ivan Illich back to the opening reflections on an AFSC retrospective exhibition, addresses threatening war, its costs and consequences, and how not to fight it. There's troubling information here, some good advice, calls to action, and useful tools.

Banners proclaiming No War hung over Route 2 in Orange, MA on Jan. 20, Martin Luther King Day, as part of a demonstration at bridges along Routes 91 and 2 organized by the Western Massachusetts Stop the War Coalition. The North Quabbin Women in Black stood with the banners throughout the afternoon. Organizers hope to hang banners at every bridge in Massachusetts along Route 2 on President's Day, Feb. 17 (information: POB 248, Athol, MA 01331; 800/215-8805; <haley.antique@verizon.net>). Photo: Marcia Gagliardi

For starters, a flier on the devastating price tag for deposing a third-rate despot of a small, suffering, impoverished country in order to control its oil. Next there's a hard look at what happens to treasured constitutional rights when war fever takes over, and what some communities are doing to slow down the rush to take away the rule of law. There's advice for those planning to risk arrest. (People generally speak of such action as "civil disobedience." We prefer what Jim Corbett, a Quaker who assisted scores of Central American refugees fleeing United States-sponsored terror in their home countries, called it--"holy obedience" to the way things ought to be.)

We hear from trade unionists against this war, and Nobel Laureates. We read about the lies this Administration repeats in hopes of inducing belief, and are reminded that there is Pacifica Radio speaking truth from the grassroots. If we read the small print on page 10, we will probably find that we belong to an organization on the Attorney General's list. Francis Boyle suggests impeaching this president run amok, and offers to help people do it. Now there's a tool!

A young woman who had never been to a demonstration before writes about a rally and march. She happened to be protesting conditions in prison; her experience of the possibilities and power of witness applies to each of the struggles which must be joined in coming days and years. To those who murmur, "I'm just one person; what can I do?" we can counter, "Listen to what Vanessa has to say."

The weapons inspectors are reporting to the Security Council as we write; George Bush gives his State of the Union message tomorrow. We tremble. US troops may very well have marched into Iraq before you read this. But of course the US has been bombing there sporadically for some years, and waging war by economic sanctions every bit as devastating as war with bullets tipped with depleted uranium. The suggestions, tools, and voices here will continue to be relevant.

We are beginning to hear a variety of calls for some sort of strike; we've printed a couple of them--students for Books not Bombs, and an international sick-out--hoping that some such call may take hold and help to consolidate this nation's mounting unease. There are definite plans laid for massive demonstrations in New York and around the world on February 15. It's an important day to stand and be counted.

Iraq is not the first victim of the US march to global sovereignty; it certainly won't be the last. With articles in this Peacework on Palestine, Venezuela, and North Korea we remind ourselves of some of the many dangerous, endangered nations unlucky enough to lie in the path of empire.

We conclude this issue by celebrating and taking courage from two men. Philip Berrigan chose arrest eleven times, last entering prison when he was in his seventies. His final advice to demonstrators massed in New York last fall: "Don't get tired." Ivan Illich, social critic who disturbed the comfortable assumptions of many of us coming of intellectual age in the 1960s, said "I'm very pessimistic, but hopeful." Probably as good a place as any to be on this brink of war.

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