Meanwhile, back on the rest of the globe ... life goes on, death goes on, war goes on, people die, people stand up courageously. For example, Lt Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse service in Iraq, addressed the
Veterans for Peace National Convention Saturday night. His speech, reprinted with permission by
Dahr Jamail, is beautiful and eloquent. And he presents an idea, an idea which must spread, which is why I am writing this diary.
We have all seen this war tear apart our country over the past three years. It seems as though nothing we've done, from vigils to protests to letters to Congress, have had any effect in persuading the powers that be. Tonight I will speak to you on my ideas for a change of strategy. I am here tonight because I took a leap of faith.
For more, follow me below the fold.
[O]n behalf of those who follow, I require your help - your sacrifice - and that of countless other Americans. I may fail. We may fail. But nothing we have tried has worked so far. It is time for change and the change starts with all of us.
Today, I speak with you about a radical idea. It is one born from the very concept of the American soldier .... It became instrumental in ending the Vietnam War - but it has been long since forgotten. The idea is this: that to stop an illegal and unjust war, the soldiers can choose to stop fighting it.
I have written in past comments about my conviction that what brought the Vietnam War to an end is that soldiers in increasing numbers began refusing to fight. Maybe demonstrations helped, maybe electoral activity helped. Maybe not (but we still tried them). But you can't fight a ground war without soldiers. I know, from personal experience, that the soldiers turned against the war. Not overnight, but over time. The political activity which contributed to that turnaround was
(1) education - letting people know the real history and the real reasons behind the war and
(2) communication - spreading the word about what others were doing against the war, providing places off-base for people to talk, get together, find out they're not alone.
These activities are not in the history books. They weren't covered by the corporate media. We didn't have much money. We didn't have the fucking internet. We had ingenuity, flexibilty, determination. Surely, with the resources we have today, we can do better.
I'm not a soldier -- what can I do today to support these guys?
[T]o stop this war, for the soldiers to stop fighting it, they must have the unconditional support of the people. I have seen this support with my own eyes. For me it was a leap of faith. For other soldiers, they do not have that luxury. They must know it and you must show it to them. Convince them that no matter how long they sit in prison, no matter how long this country takes to right itself, their families will have a roof over their heads, food in their stomachs, opportunities and education.
Today I will
donate to Veterans for Peace to help support those who refuse to fight and their families.