May 2000
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Patrica Watson, Editor Sara Burke, Assistant Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor
2161 Massachusetts Ave.
Telephone number:
Fax number: pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
Short Takes
Iraq Under Siege: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War Edited by Anthony Arnove, South End Press, 2000, $16, paper
"An invaluable documentation of the tragedy in Iraq ... Deserves reading by every citizen interested in the appalling reality of US and UK foreign policy." --Edward W. Said "This book makes a valuable contribution to breaking the silence and complacency that surround the humanitarian crisis in Iraq." --Hala Maksoud, Director, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee "This book gives us a key to understand the New World Order, and warns about how Iraq's tragedy may be a model for global bullying and global impunity in coming times." --Eduardo Galeano, author of Open Veins of Latin America "The undecided should pay heed." --The Economist To order, 1-800-533-8478; <southend@igc.org> www.lbbs.org/sep/iraq.htm (includes links to organizations working to end the sanctions)
Organizational discounts of 40 to 55% available. To find out about
upcoming events with Iraq Under Siege authors, visit www.lbbs/org/sep/speaking.htm.
Campaign of Conscience for the Iraqi People --Mairead Corrigan Maguire, 1976 Nobel Peace Laureate
Boston Vigil to Close "School of Assassins"Close to 50 participantsand hundreds more passersby had a chance on April 15 to learn about the School of the Americas (SOA), a 54-year-old, US-government-funded facility at Fort Benning, GA. SOA is known to many as the "School of the Assassins" for its work in training foreign militaries in methods of violent repression. Speakers reminded the Boston crowd that SOA "graduates" include dictators and military leaders in Panama, Argentina, and Colombia, as well as officers implicated in the torture and murder of thousands of Latin Americans. A. E. Cerino of Pax Christi Boston, one of 20 groups sponsoring the vigil, said she believes SOA can only continue to operate if the public is kept in the dark about its mission and impact: "I truly believe that if the people in this country knew what their tax dollars were being used for, they would not say, 'Yeah, that's exactly where I want my buck to go--kill a few more priests and housekeepers!'" In conjunction with the vigil, 20 Boston University theology students fasted for two weeks, while other supporters, ranging from 7 to 85, also engaged in shorter fasts.
SOA Watch has worked with members of Congress to close down the
school, an effort that has lost on increasingly close votes in
the House in recent years. For more information, call Donna Stiglmeier
of the Paulist Center, 617/742-4460.
Triumph and Turmoil in BoliviaThe massive protests that prompted the declaration of martial law in Bolivia last month were prompted by the sale of the Cochabamba region's public water system to a private corporation (Aguas del Tunari, owned by International Water Limited) which then doubled water rates for poor families that can barely afford to feed themselves. It turns out that the main financial power behind that water corporation is the Bechtel Corporation, based in San Francisco (source: www.bechtel.com/whatnew/1999artsq4.html). The people of Bolivia made it very clear that they wanted Bechtel out, and shut down the city with a general strike and massive demonstrations. In response, the Bolivian government declared martial law, and at least 7 people were killed, with many more injured. However, the organizing effort included a massive Internet campaign which mobilized an international public outcry; this response included hundreds of emails and phone calls directly to Bechtel demanding that they respect the wishes of the Cochabamba people and withdraw their interest from the region, as well as a lively action in New Zealand in which demonstrators hosed down the Bolivian embassy. The Bolivian government has since declared that it has ended its agreement and that Bechtel's water company will definitely not return. Despite the end of national protests over water and other issues, the 90-day "state of emergency" declared by President Banzer is still in effect, including an evening curfew, limits on public meetings, and the ability to arrest without warrant. While it is unclear how strictly these rules will be enforced, labor, human rights and civic groups have demanded that martial law be lifted. People in the US can help by contacting the Bolivian Embassy in Washington to demand the end of martial law in Bolivia: 202/483-4410, or fax: 202/328-3712. A plain-clothes sharpshooter, filmed by a Bolivian television network as he fired bullets into crowds of water protesters, has been identified as Captain Robinson Iriarte de La Fuente who participated in a fall 1978 combat weapons course at the School of the Americas. La Fuente, who did his shooting Saturday from behind a line of uniformed army soldiers, has been arrested. A 17-year-old boy, Victor Hugo Daza, was killed during the protest by a bullet through his face. Cochabamba is now governed by a President (Hugo Banzer), Governor (Walter Céspedes), and Mayor (Manfred Reyes Villa), each of whom is an SOA graduate.
From bulletins posted by Jim Shultz, executive director
of The Democracy Center, who lives in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The
Democracy Center, PO Box 22157, San Francisco, CA 94122; 415/564-4767;
info@democracy.org; www.democracyctr.org
The Osprey & the Big PictureA V-22 Osprey aircraft crashed on April 8 in Arizona, killing 19 Marines. This tragic loss of life begs us all--citizens, Congress, the Pentagon, & the industry--to take another look at this troubled program. Price Tag: Government agencies outside the Pentagon estimate the cost to be as high as $60 million per aircraft. Osprey program cost estimates range from $37 billion to $40 billion. Mission: To lift off the ground like a helicopter and fly like a plane, transporting 20 to 24 Marines in and out of combat and on rescue missions. History: The Osprey has been in development for 18 years, during which time costs have grown dramatically. Three of the fifteen Osprey aircraft that have been delivered thus far have crashed. A 1992 crash killed seven men. Political Popularity: The Osprey has been promoted by Congress in spite of the Pentagon's opposition to the aircraft as too expensive and too risky. Congressional support stems from manufacturing jobs provided by the Osprey in districts of its supporters. Also, the Osprey's prime contractors, Boeing's helicopter division in Pennsylvania and Bell Helicopter Textron in Texas, are generous contributors of soft money to both political parties. The Big Picture: Congress has finished its work on the Fiscal Year 2001 Budget Resolution, which includes $310.8 billion for the military--$4 billion above the Administration's request and $18.2 billion more than last year. As Pentagon spending soars, the FY2001 Budget Resolution proposes cuts of nearly $29 billion in non-defense discretionary spending. Expensive, exotic, unnecessary weapons programs such as the V-22 Osprey and the F-22 fighter plane are a major reason for soaring military budgets. For information on how federal budget priorities impact programs for children and other human needs, visit the Children's Defense Fund web site at www.childrensdefense.org/budget or the Coalition on Human Needs web site at www.chn.org/status.
Action Opportunity: Use these talking points to write a
letter to your member of Congress or to the editor of your local
paper. Please send a copy of published letters to Women's
Action for New Directions, 464 Cherokee Ave. SE #201, Atlanta
GA 30312.
In Korea, a Demand for AccountabilityThis statement, issued March 22, 2000, has been signed by 73 groups in the Republic of Korea, calling for the revision of the Status of Forces Agreement which covers US soldiers at bases there. This version is slightly abridged. Since the particularly horrific murder of Ms. Eun Kum-ee by US Army Private Kenneth Markle in 1992, there has been a series of murders of Korean women by US military personnel stationed in our country. The most recent (11 March 2000) was the murder of Seo Jeong-man, a 66-year-old deaf and mute woman who had fended for herself since being separated from her family during the Korean War. This latest incident is one of four murders involving kijichon (areas near the US military bases) women and US servicemen during the past year. The murders of these kijichon women are all part of a pattern of ongoing violent crimes against women by American military personnel. Murders and other violations of women form part of a larger picture of crimes against Korean people committed by US servicemen. According to official Korean government statistics, during the period between 1967 and 1998, there were more than 50,000 reported crimes by US military personnel against Korean people. Based on these statistics and other informal surveys, we estimate that there have been more than 100,000 crimes committed by the US military from its arrival in 1945 to the present. The US government has never officially apologized for any of these crimes. In an overwhelming number of cases, the accused have never been held accountable to Korean victims, their families, or the South Korean government. This lack of accountability is directly related to the inequality between the US and Republic of Korea (ROK) created by the existing Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). Moreover, this inequality usually results in passive investigations by Korean police and the non-cooperative attitude of US military officials. Although it is a new millennium and a new spring, these recent murder cases make it difficult for us to hide our anger and sadness. Under the banner of "keeping the peace" in Korea, there is a massive military presence on the peninsula; at the same time, we are suffering because of the murders and other violence perpetrated by the "Keepers of Peace." We denounce this situation. Of course, even if the SOFA does get revised, US military crimes will not disappear. But if the people are suffering from unfair laws, the governments must fix the laws. We, therefore, urgently appeal to the US and ROK governments to adopt the following measures:
For more information, contact Karin Lee & John Feffer,
East Asia Quaker International Affairs Program, AFSC, Tokyo Friends
Center, 4-8-19 Mita Minato Ku, Tokyo 1080073 Japan; eaqiar@aol.com
Nago Spells "Seattle" in JapaneseThe US and Japanese governments have selected a small Okinawan community, Nago, as the site for this summer's G-8 summit. Not coincidentally, Nago is also the community on which Washington and Tokyo are attempting to foist a new, state-of-the-art air base to support US foreign military interventions. Their goal is simple: to overwhelm Okinawan opposition to the continuing US military occupation of their communities. (Three-quarters of the 59,000 US troops based and homeported in Japan are occupying 20% of Okinawa's land, and all of its air space and sea lanes. The heads of state and press will be joined by at least 20,000 police scheduled to be flown into Okinawa from across Japan.) In a related offensive, Washington is seeking to end Kobe's and Hiroshima's status as nuclear-free cities and to undermine Japan's "Three Non-Nuclear Principles" (not to manufacture, deploy, or allow introduction of nuclear weapons) by bringing nuclear-capable warships into their ports.
Okinawan community activists, feminists, land owners, and political
leaders are responding with renewed opposition to the Nago base,
and call for the withdrawal of all US troops and bases. People
in Hiroshima and Kobe are rallying to protect their nuclear freedom
and peace. Please sign and circulate this petition in solidarity
with the people of Okinawa, Kobe, and Hiroshima and return it
to The Boston Okinawa Committee, c/o AFSC, 2161 Massachusetts
Ave., Cambridge, MA 02140. Additional copies of the petition and
a fact sheet can be obtained at the AFSC office or at www.afsc.org/pes.htm.
Petition of Solidarity with the People of Okinawa, Kobe and Hiroshima The US, with the help of the Japanese government, is in the process of reconsolidating its military position throughout Asia. In Okinawa, the plan to "transfer" Futenma Air Base to Nago City is a pretext to enlarge its military capabilities to accommodate a seaborne stat-of-the-art air base to serve as the home of the Osprey and as a base for other US warplanes. The new base is designed to last for 200 years and is being built against the expressed will of Nago's and Okinawa's voters. It will augment US foreign military interventions throughout northeast Asia, against China, across the south Pacific, and as far as the Middle East. The US government is also campaigning to subvert the nuclear freedom of Kobe and Hiroshima by imposing "visits" by nuclear-capable warships into their harbors. No US warships have docked in these ports since 1975. The United States government does not speak in our name. US preparations for war--including nuclear war, land seizures, intrusive and dangerous military exercises, and sexual and other crimes related to US bases in Okinawa--shamefully undermine individual, community, and regional security.
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