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Anti-Warrers:
In this update:
- INITIATIVE PASSED !!!! (what next with initiatives?)
- Info Sharing Sessions Resume (Wed, Main Lounge, 12-1)
- Student Investment Group Meeting (Wed, ARH 102, 7 PM)
- Dec 10th - Symbolic Protest on campus - Armbands
- Iowan on Iraqi Peace Team and Benefit Concert tonight in IA City
- Canadian Weapons Inspection Team Embarking to U.S.
- Next Meeting: Tomorrow (Tues.) 9 P.M. ARH 120
- News Digest
********* INITIATIVE PASSED !!!! (what next with initiatives?)
**********
WE DID IT! The "No War in Iraq" Initiative passed with 77.9% voting yes
out of 909 ballots cast.
This is a solid endorsement of the initiative. Credit is due to all
those who voted, got others to vote, and worked on getting the
initiative on the ballot.
So what now? At last Tuesday's meeting a couple of things were
discussed. First is publicizing the results. If you're interested in
helping with that contact Laura Polstein [polstein] or Sarah Weiss
[weiss]
Also, there was a feeling that we should now pursue an SGA resolution,
voted on by Joint Board, to compliment the initiative. Rachel Miller is
pursuing that option. To help her out contact [millerra]
******** Info Sharing Sessions Resume (Wed, Main Lounge, 12-1) *******
Inspectors are back in Iraq, America is looking for support for military
action, Troop Build up continue, and more...
There's a lot of news. Come share articles, discuss current events, and
learn from each other at the Wednesday Info Sharing Session.
Wednesday in Main Lounge (outside Quad dining hall) 12-1. You can go
get food at Quad and then bring it into the lounge for added news
sharing enjoyment ;) To help publicize this or if you have questions,
Laura Mason-Marshall [masonmar] is the woman to talk to.
********* Student Investment Group Meeting (Wed, ARH 102, 7 PM)********
The Grinnell Student Investment Group has endowment money that it is
able to invest. Some of it is currently invested in Boeing. Is that a
problem? Want to know more about it? Come to the group meeting - Wed ,
ARH 102, 7 PM.
Contact Josh Rosenbluh [rosenblu] with questions.
********** Dec 10th - Symbolic Protest on campus - Armbands **********
Dec. 10th is a national day of action. Communities, campuses, and
people around the country will be doing this to voice their opposition
to War in Iraq. At Tuesday's meeting we decided that a simple way in
which we could join others would be to symbolically protest through the
use of white armbands. While this is not a loud rally, teach-in, or
protest, it is something each of us can do to remind others about the
issue of war in Iraq. Along with the cloth armband, we are trying to
come up with some pledge or information sheet so that, if asked,
everyone wearing a white arm band could reply with a similar message.
Armbands and whatever text we decide on will be distributed through
campus mailboxes a day or two before the 10th.
If you have suggestions for a pledge or text to be distributed with the
armbands, please bring them to tomorrow's meeting.
If you would not like to get a white armband, or if you want to help in
this effort contact Rachel Miller [millerra].
******* Iraqi Peace Team and Benefit Concert tonight in IA City *******
Iowan to wage peace in Iraq
Iowa native Micah Keller Shristi plans to visit Iraq in December,
joining a Peace Team through Voices in the Wilderness, a Chicago-based
organization working to end the devastating US-led UN economic sanctions
on Iraq. As a Peace Team member he will be meeting ordinary Iraqis and
discovering for himself the reality of the situation there.
"During my month-long visit to Iraq I want to make friends with as many
Iraqis as possible," writes Micah from Nepal where he has been a
journalist and an English teacher for the last four months. "I feel that
peace is possible through personal relationships. I want to start the
process of true friendship between people in Iraq and people in my
beloved America."
Micah will travel from Nepal to Jordan on December 15th, to cross the
Iraqi border two days later on his way to Baghdad with a twenty-member
Peace Team, including individuals from the United States, Canada,
Ireland, Great Britain, and Australia. The Peace Team will live among
ordinary Iraqi people, be present during any US bombing campaign or
invasion, attempt to use its presence and nonviolent actions to protect
Iraqi civilians, and provide first-hand accounts of the effects of war
and economic sanctions. Local sponsors of Micah's trip are Iowans For
Peace, a coalition of thirteen eastern Iowan political and religious
organizations, and First Mennonite Church of Iowa City. Micah will send
reports of his experiences to supporters in Iowans For Peace, who will
disseminate the reports locally.
Micah was born in Des Moines in 1978, but spent much of his childhood in
Nepal where his parents taught. Shortly after graduating from Eastern
Mennonite University in May 2000 with a major in Journalism and a minor
in Teaching English as a Second Language, he took up residence in Iowa
City and married Charlotte Gingerich. He is an active member of Iowans
For Peace and First Mennonite Church. Micah writes, "I believe the Bush
administration has greedy economic motives for wanting to attack Iraq.
I do not support the shedding of innocent blood in exchange for cheap
oil. Bombing and killing never bring real resolution to a conflict."
Micah's convictions against a U.S. attack on Iraq were influenced by his
upbringing in the Mennonite Church. "As an historic peace church
committed to the non-violent way of Jesus Christ," said Bob Smith,
pastor of First Mennonite Church, "we are grateful for the opportunity
to support Micah in his desire to witness for peace in Iraq. We believe
that the Voices in the Wilderness delegation can send a clear message
that not all Americans want to inflict violence and suffering on the
Iraqi people."
Peace Team coordinator for Voices in the Wilderness, Gabe Huck, said the
Iraq Peace Team was formed to be a presence in Iraq at a time when
Iraqis are living in constant fear of attack. "We stand in solidarity
with ordinary Iraqi citizens who are not our enemies, yet who have borne
the burden of war and economic sanctions and now may again suffer the
violence of war," he said. Members of Peace Teams "do not take the
side of any government, none of whom they consider blameless."
Over the last ten years Voices in the Wilderness has sent over 50
delegations to Iraq to bring medicines and supplies, and to be goodwill
ambassadors. Those returning from such delegations report friendliness
and gratitude from Iraqis they met.
Iowans for Peace will hold a benefit concert at The Mill, 120 E.
Burlington St. in Iowa City, on December 2nd, 7:00 to 10:00 pm, to raise
funds for Micah's expenses, as well as for the School of the Americas
Watch and the Iowa City Emergency Housing Project. "In choosing these
three beneficiaries of our concert, we wanted to show the connection
between war-making abroad and unmet social needs at home," explained
Maria Hope, member of Iowans For Peace and Amnesty International. At
this smoke-free event, acoustic music will be performed by Murphy and
Lake, Stones in the Field, and the Mike and Amy Finders Band. Tickets,
for a $7 suggested donation, may be purchased in advance at Prairie
Lights Bookstore and the Coralville New Pioneer Co-op. For more
information about Micah's trip, Iowans For Peace, or the benefit
concert, contact Lori Nelson at 319-358-1557 or ljnelson@avalon.net.
************** Canadian Weapons Inspectors ********************
A coalition of Canadian peace groups today announced their intention to
send an international team of volunteer weapons inspectors into the
United States later this winter. The coalition, Rooting Out Evil, are
recruiting inspectors through their newly launched website,
www.rootingoutevil.org.
************** Next Meeting ***********************
Next Grinnell Anti-War Meeting: Tues (Tomorrow) 9 PM - ARH 120
**************** News Digest ***********************
- Common Myths in Iraq Coverage from fair.org (see below)
- Gulf War II? by moveon.org (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - Attached))
- UN Inspectors now in Iraq:
Guardian Coverage of Iraq (section on inspectors)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/0,2759,423009,00.html
Dec 2nd: NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/02/international/middleeast/02INSP.html
*****************************************************************
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Common Myths in Iraq Coverage @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
ACTION ALERT:
Common Myths in Iraq Coverage
November 27, 2002
An issue as serious as the Iraq crisis deserves the highest possible
degree of accuracy from the press. U.S. media coverage, however, is
marked by frequent misstatements and distortions of reality-- some of
which have been made repeatedly, even after being pointed out by
critics.
Here are a few examples of commonly repeated errors:
1. "But as U.N. weapons inspectors prepare to return to Iraq for the
first time since Saddam kicked them out in 1998, the U.S. faces a
delicate balancing act: transforming the international consensus for
disarmament into a consensus for war." --Randall Pinkston, CBS Evening
News (11/9/02).
One of the most common media errors on Iraq is the claim that the U.N.
weapons inspectors left Iraq in 1998 because they were "kicked out" or
"expelled" (http://www.fair.org/extra/0210/inspectors.html ). The
inspectors, led by Richard Butler, actually left voluntarily, knowing
that a U.S. bombing campaign was imminent. This was reported accurately
throughout the U.S. press at the time: "Butler ordered his inspectors to
evacuate Baghdad, in anticipation of a military attack, on Tuesday
night" (Washington Post, 12/18/98).
2. "The last weapons inspectors were pulled out of Iraq nearly four
years ago. Baghdad charged that there were spies on the team, and the
United States complained that Iraq was using the accusation as an excuse
to obstruct the inspectors. After the team withdrew, the U.S. and
Britain waged a four-day bombing campaign." --L.A. Times (11/19/02)
Treating the use of the U.N. weapons inspection team for espionage as a
mere Iraqi allegation might be referred to as "Saddam Says" reporting.
In fact, reports of the misuse of the inspectors for spying were made in
early 1999 by some of the leading U.S. newspapers, sourced to U.S. and
U.N. officials (FAIR Action Alert, 9/24/02;
http://www.fair.org/activism/unscom-history.html ). These papers
reported as fact that "American spies had worked undercover on teams of
United Nations arms inspectors" (New York Times, 1/7/99) in order to
"eavesdrop on the Iraqi military without the knowledge of the U.N.
agency" (Washington Post, 3/2/99) as part of "an ambitious spying
operation designed to penetrate Iraq's intelligence apparatus and track
the movement of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein" (Boston Globe, 1/6/99).
3. "Many [in Iraq], of course, are bitter over the 12-year-long
U.S.-supported embargo, which Baghdad claims has led to thousands of
infants and elderly people dying from preventable diseases." --Time
(11/25/02)
The topic of sanctions is also often covered in a "Saddam Says" fashion.
In fact, there are detailed reports on the deadly effects of sanctions
that come from respected international health organizations and public
health experts, not from the Iraqi government. For example, UNICEF
published a report in August 1999 that found that sanctions against Iraq
had contributed to the deaths of 500,000 children under five. Richard
Garfield, a public health specialist at Columbia University, estimates
that 350,000 children have died as a result of sanctions and the
lingering effects of the 1991 Gulf War (The Nation, 12/6/01;
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20011203&s=cortright ). To
describe a death toll in this range as "thousands" is like saying that
"dozens" of people died in the World Trade Center attacks.
4. "The Pentagon also points out, the Bush administration also points
out very, very strongly, that the Iraqi regime itself is to blame for
all of these problems. If they simply complied with U.N. Security
Council resolutions and disarm, there would be no sanctions, there would
be no problem getting medical supplies, doctor, pediatricians, to all
parts of Iraq." --Wolf Blitzer, CNN (11/7/02)
It's not at all clear that sanctions against Iraq would automatically be
lifted if the country disarmed; President George Bush the elder declared
in 1991, shortly after the sanctions were imposed, "My view is we don't
want to lift these sanctions as long as Saddam Hussein is in power."
His secretary of state James Baker concurred: "We are not interested in
seeing a relaxation of sanctions as long as Saddam Hussein is in power."
President Clinton made a point of saying that his policy toward Iraq was
exactly the same as his predecessor's. His secretary of state Madeleine
Albright stated in her first major foreign policy address in 1997: "We
do not agree with the nations who argue that if Iraq complies with its
obligations concerning weapons of mass destruction, sanctions should be
lifted. Our view, which is unshakable, is that Iraq must prove its
peaceful intentions.... And the evidence is overwhelming that Saddam
Hussein's intentions will never be peaceful." (See Institute for Public
Accuracy, 11/13/98; http://www.accuracy.org/iraq.htm . )
ACTION: When you see these mistakes being repeated, please contact the
media outlet and ask that the record be corrected. Contact info for
many leading U.S. news outlets can be found at
http://www.fair.org/media-contact-list.html .
***********************************************************
The Anti-War Update and Digest is published by:
--Eli Zigas
antiwar@grinnell.edu
Norris 1st
X 4039
To subscribe or unsubscribe, contact me.
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