April 2004

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

From the Editor's Desk

"'Why, of course, the people don't want war,' Goering shrugged. 'Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece.... After all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.'

'There is one difference,' I pointed out. 'In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars.'

'Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.'"

- Nazi Reichsmarshall Hermann Goering, talking with US Army Captain and psychologist Gustave Gilbert, in 1946, as recorded in Gilbert's Nuremberg Diary

Goering's words are chillingly accurate about how often political leaders succeed at manipulating public opinion and lying their countries into war. Yet, as the events of the last month, and many of the articles in this issue, attest, Goering's declaration is certainly too sweeping; his cynicism a little too pat, his eliding of the substantive differences between political systems too facile, his dismissal of the potential for "the people" to resist too cavalier, his analysis of the potential appeal of pacifism too grim.

This was illustrated dramatically when, last month, the people of Spain proved that the patience of a lied-to people is not infinite. The carnage which resulted from the bombings of the civilian trains was indeed shocking. Yet a majority of the Spanish people recoiled at the images of their government blaspheming the dead by trying to cover up, for electoral gain, evidence pointing to Al Qaeda as the source of the bombing. Both screenwriter Paul Laverty and activist Howard Clark detail and analyze the passionately creative activism that exposed the lies and turned an election.

There are signs that US activists are beginning to sound some of the same angry, compassionate notes as our Spanish counterparts. Both September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, and Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), are now central to the current US peace movement. MFSO organized a dramatic march from Dover to DC, and helped mount the largest demonstration in Fayetteville, NC in 30 years, both chronicled in the pages within. Also, Mel Duncan, executive director of the Nonviolent Peace Force, shares his perspective as his son is shipped off to Iraq.

Similarly, though it's satisfying to turn on mainstream TV to hear Richard Clarke speaking truth to power by calling the Bush administration on some of its lies about the war in Iraq, the Friends Committee on National Legislation warns us about the danger represented by the policy content of the September 11 hearings so far, with witnesses, including Richard Clarke, trying to out-tough each other in their advocacy of aggressive military methods as the best response to terrorism. As fighting in Iraq explodes again, Phyllis Bennis provides a sobering analysis of the drawbacks of the proposed Iraqi constitution.

To continue to highlight the real costs of wars, we bring two accounts from health workers in war zones, one from Dr. Farmer in Haiti, the other from Curt Wands in Colombia. These practitioners are working to heal society, as are the activists profiled in the following three stories, who are striving to democratize the global economy.

Ginger Gentile chronicles an exciting example of participatory democracy in Argentina, where workers are employing a tactic Sicilian pacifist Danilo Dolci called a reverse strike. Meanwhile, workers in China, utilizing similar tactics, face continuing repression. Thirdly, activists across four continents, coordinated by the Rainforest Action Network, are working to dry up the financial credit provided to eco-destructive mega-projects, winning a dramatic campaign to change Citicorp's policies.

In order to help dry up the funds pouring into US military coffers, we chronicle the work of individuals and organizations working to: challenge mainstream assumptions about the necessity of military spending; stop budget cuts which would deprive people with disabilities of the resources needed to live independent lives; and refuse to pay war taxes.

Finally, Martha Yager's reflections upon returning from the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Wall remind us that it is our responsibility to prove Goering wrong once and for all - by putting an end to the madness called war.

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