SUPPORT THE TROOPS

Since coming on board with the League in April, I’ve been meeting with peace and justice organizers across the country (including WRL locals), hearing about what’s working, what’s not, and what’s needed at the local level.  One of the assessment questions I’ve been asking folks is about the role of antiwar veterans and soldiers in the peace movement.

While responses have varied, there seems to be broad agreement that, while we need many voices from diverse backgrounds speaking out against war, veterans and soldiers deserve a special place.  War affects them more than anyone else inside the United States.  Furthermore, antiwar soldiers and vets are positioned to play a unique and powerful role in ending the Iraq War, in preventing a war against Iran, and in challenging a culture of miitarism. The success of their organizing efforts is crucial to the success of the broader antiwar movement.

So, are we doing what we can to support their success?  What do they need? Do they have enough money and resources to operate at full capacity? What else do we have to offer?

We’ve been asking ourselves and other folks in the peace movement these questions, and reflecting more specifically on support roles WRL might play, as well as the historic role of GIs within WRL. We’re having this conversation in the context of a deepening relationship with Iraq Veterans Against the War (ivaw.org).

Shortly after I came on as field organizer this spring, the NYC chapter of IVAW moved into space in our national office.  At the time, Steve Theberge (WRL organizing coordinator) was working with them on planning Operation First Casuality, in which IVAW members dressed in fatigues re-enacted scenes from the Iraq War in the streets of New York.  Steve coordinated the “civilian” actors for the actions and pulled me in to help with some of the media outreach.  We were both deeply moved by the experience.  Since then we’ve been able to collaborate with IVAW on a few projects including workshops at the U.S. Social Forum, a meeting of IVAW-NYC members and allies, and a weekend strategy and skills retreat.

SUPPORT DISSENT

IVAW started in July of 2004 with seven founding members; in two and a half years, their numbers have grown to over 700 members in more than 30 chapters.  IVAW members are individuals who have been (or currently still are) in any branch of the service during the  “war on terror.”  Their strategy is to pressure for an end to the Iraq war by weakening its military support and organizing military dissent against it.  They are at an exciting stage in the development of their organization, with more and more members becoming skilled organizers.

I am excited about what increased support for antiwar soldiers and vets could look like in the current political context.  However, part of me remains cautious.  My misgivings are not a question of whether they deserve support, but rather whether they deserve support, but rather whether well-intended support could ever be a liability.  I think the key is for supporters to find ways to stand with vets and soldiers without standing in the camera shot, without trying to run the show. At Operation First Casualty the “civilians” spent a day together before the action, training to play a support role that drew attention not to themselves, but to the vets.  It was a good model of activists playing less visible but much appreciated roles and taking direction from the vets.

My interaction with IVAW members these past months has tremendously shifted the way I think about soldiers and vets in relation to antiwar organizing.  I used to, without realizing it, think of antiwar soldiers mostly as insiders who became defectors, thankfuly bolstering the antiwar movement’s positions.  While there is some truth to this, there are also much deeper layers.  When I listen to antiwar soldiers or vets speak about their experiences, my od ideological frameworks seem distant and abstract.  I find myself deeply moved, fully captivated by their powerful stories.  I start to see them as the primary community (within the United States) affected by war; a community struggling for peace and justice on behalf of others, but also on their own behalf, for their own rights, dignity, and liberation.

War has affected more than their opinions.  Many, many vets return home injured or traumatized by their experiences.  CBS News reported on November 13 that in 2005 at least 6,265 U.S. veterans committed suicide, averaging 17 per day.  IVAW is working to end the Iraq War, but also to meet the real needs of its membership.  I used to think supporting IVAW meant arranging for a member to speak at a rally.  But clearly meaningful support has to go deeper.

As this ugly war drags on, IVAW’s membership continues to grow, as well as its capacity.  The group is currently organizing for a Winter Soldier gathering.  Like Vietnam vets in 1971 before them, soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan will testify about their experiences to show that “the problem goes much deeper than the atrocities of Abu Ghraib or the massacre in Haditha.” and that, “responsibiity belongs to those in the seat of power.” Let’s ask how we can support them.

In loving memory of Sammantha Ewing.