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Mindstates
A Heroic Call for Peace
by Elyssa Paige
“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment. Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Excitement filled the brisk winter air as I hurried toward the voices rising in the night, louder and louder: “What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!” The passion was contagious; I found myself chanting along while the cars whizzing by honked in support.
The protest was being held in front of Congresswoman Susan Davis’ office in San Diego, CA on December 2—the day after President Obama’s announcement to escalate military forces in Afghanistan. Specifically, the decision was to send 30,000 more young men and women to battle, bringing the total number of troops to 100,000. Withdrawal is not set to begin until July 2011.
First of all, let’s not fool ourselves. This is no surprise. In the midst of Obama’s campaign for hope and change last year was the not-so-thinly-veiled mention of his plan to withdraw from Iraq—but increase troops in Afghanistan. I voted for him anyway because I found him to be a better choice than his opponent, who had militaristic intentions too. The fact is that as we strive to end one war, we focus on fighting another. So the status quo remains—slightly modified, of course.
Now what?
Activism. It’s what stopped Vietnam. If we wait for change and passively hope for peace, it won’t come. We have to make it happen. We have to make our government listen to us. Remember that the word democracy comes from the Greek demokratia, or demos, meaning “common people,” and kratos, meaning “rule, strength.” Democracy is rule by the people. But who’s really ruling here?
I talked to some activists to find out. Rick Greenblatt of the San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice explained, “We know now that the majority of the American people—53 percent according to a recent poll—are in favor of the withdrawal of American troops in Afghanistan, either immediately or within a year. What we need to do is convert that into a movement that has the social power to force the situation to change.”
But as I looked around this protest, I saw what seemed to be a devoted small group—not quite the masses. If the majority of the people want peace, where were they on this night?
Activist Rio Mezta offered a poignant explanation: “I think that apathy is becoming a part of the norm in this society and the government is doing a really good job of making people afraid to speak out. An essential part to being an activist is to get out there, to raise consciousness, to create awareness, and to show others that it’s okay to speak out.”
The activists who are making their voices heard out in the streets define heroism. They are fearlessly rallying for a cause that goes beyond their personal worlds. They call upon us to recognize, for example, how funds are being redirected from our flailing domestic economy to lands overseas. As activist Susan Orlofsky held her sign up high urging, “No More War $Funding$,” she pointed out: “There are so many needy people here. With one quarter of our children in poverty, it’s just cuckoo to go there and spend $100 billion a year—that’s $1 million per soldier.” Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid Karzai recently announced that his country will need help paying for its own security until at least 2024. Time will tell about the withdrawal promised in 2011.
Beyond financial bottom lines is the immeasurable impact of war upon the innocent people whose homes become battlefields in our absurd effort to fight terrorism with more terror. The United Nations reported 2,118 Afghan civilian deaths in 2008 and 1,013 in the first six months of 2009—a 24 percent increase compared to that time period the year before.
But Obama called the escalation of troops a matter of safety when he announced his decision December 1:
“If I did not think that the security of the United States and the safety of the American people were at stake in Afghanistan, I would gladly order every single one of our troops home tomorrow. So, no, I do not make this decision lightly. I make this decision because I am convinced that our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the epicenter of violent extremism practiced by Al Qaeda. It is from here we were attacked on 9/11 and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak.”
That line of thought sounds eerily reminiscent of Obama’s predecessor. And these activists are not buying it. Greenblatt charged, “We don’t believe that sending more troops to Afghanistan increases the security of the American people; we actually believe that wars for empires are worse for security. The best thing that we could do is withdraw troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.”
The most amazing part about this protest was the diversity among the activists. There were socialists, progressives, peaceniks, members of the gay community, and war veterans, to name a few. Richard Trujillo, Vietnam vet and retired train operator from the Bay Area observed, “As you can see here, there are a number of different views. We’re all interconnected. People get active when they see others doing it. The diversity in the activism is something they remember. That’s the real hope.”
Joshua Nadier voiced a similar sentiment when he put down his megaphone to share his perspective: “I’m really big into women’s rights and the anti-war movement. As a gay male wanting to have equality for myself, I’m willing to fight for everyone’s equality, including people in other countries who don’t have a choice over what the hell our government is doing. This is my way of trying to help.”
If that doesn’t sound like a hero, then I don’t know what does.
Don’t stop here. Check out alternative media outlets such as democracynow.org, publicintegrity.org, or commondreams.org. Or you can learn more about the San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice at sdcpj.org.