Peace Activism is Still Growing

Tai Moses at Alternet has it right. Excerpt:

"And what of the troops? "Honor our Troops, Bring them Home. Peace Is Patriotic," reads the marquee on my local movie theater. We wholeheartedly support the idea of protecting the lives of our soldiers by bringing them safely home. Our opposition to the war is based on respect for human life, be it an Iraqi grandmother or a private in the U.S. army. But we do not support the mission these soldiers have been sent on: to kill thousands of Iraqis. So how can we in good conscience honor the military?


Our own commander-in-chief has shown little respect for the men and women he has sent into harm's way. Even as Bush has ordered more than 200,000 troops into combat, the Republicans in the House Budget Committee voted to cut $25 billion from the Department of Veterans Affairs' budget over the next 10 years; just when wounded or ill Gulf War II combat vets are sure to need benefits the most. This is unprecedented; it is always difficult to get money for vets in peacetime, but to slash veterans' pensions and disability compensation at the beginning of a war defies belief. So when someone questions the patriotism of antiwar protesters, remind them of the administration's hypocrisy.


What to do with our discouragement, our horror, our exhaustion? If you have invested any of your energy and heart in resisting the war efforts of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al., depression is going to be your occasional companion. We can try to avoid despair in these dark times by recognizing that we each have a valuable place in the continuum that is the struggle for peace, which has existed as long as there has been war. "It is not necessary for you to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it," said the Talmudic sage Rabbi Tarphon.


The bombs are falling over Baghdad. In the U.S. there are people in the streets; there is a roar of protest around the world that is rising in volume even now. One month ago, many of us took part in the largest coordinated single-day antiwar demonstration in the history of the world. George W. Bush did not listen to us, but we heard each other. When the wartime blues begin to get you down, remember: There is a one-term president in the White House, and that good fight has just begun."