WAND
at the March on DC January 27!
February 2007
A
glorious day for weather and activism alike. Our thanks
to all the groups who pooled good will and energies
to make this action happen, and go off without a hitch.
And a shout out to all the members and friends who
traveled day and night to show up, stand up, and speak
out.
It
finally feels like our voices are being heard. Yay
for democracy!
Read
a report from Karen Jacob here.
Photos
from Katie Johnson and Pat Taub. Thanks!
From
Karen Jacob
Dear
WAND members, friends and Maplepeacers:
This
past weekend I was in Washington, D.C. for the Rally
and March to end the War on Iraq. I was joined by
Richard and Jean Hirschler of Goshen, (picture attached),
and my husband, David Cortright and our son, James.
Susan Shaer, WAND’s executive director, spoke
to the Rally, and many national WAND members were
in attendance. Richard, Jean and I were able to meet
up with about ten others from WAND. As you can see
from the photo, it was a glorious day in D.C. and
although I’m skeptical about UFP&J’s
500,000 participant number, I wouldn’t doubt
that there were over 100,000! I think the strategy
in directing the rally toward the Capitol and our
Representatives rather than the White House and an
administration that’s ignoring the will of the
people, was a good one.
The
Washington Post had a large spread in their Sunday
edition and as I understand, although I haven’t
seen it, C-Span covered the entire event. The South
Bend Tribune had two articles about the D.C. rally,
one on Saturday which focused on the Notre Dame students
who were planning to go and another AP article on
Sunday. I’m also aware that Los Angeles had
a large rally and, right here in Michiana, folks rallied
near the UP Mall in Mishawaka. It’s not too
late to contact your Congressperson and our Senators
to support the mission of the Rally and March.
After
the March I had the privilege to dine with active
duty soldiers who are part of the “Appeal for
Redress.” (www.appealforredress.org) These brave
young men and women are publicly speaking out, at
great risk, to their elected representatives and so
should we! The soldiers, many who had been in Iraq,
were no doubt angry about the troop escalation because
they know it won’t work. Because they know that
the number, 21,500, isn’t enough to secure Baghdad
and increasingly volatile regions in Iraq. The reason
Bush isn’t sending more than 21,500, is because
there aren’t any more troops to send! They’re
sending troops with as little as two weeks training
and redeploying and extending tours to make it to
that number.
The
soldiers who have been in Iraq know from experience
that the fragility of the Iraqi government and the
sectarian nature of the fighting makes the likelihood
of building the Iraqi military to a point where it
can control the situation very unlikely. They also
know that U.S. troops breaking down doors in search
of “insurgents” is only making the situation
worse. They know more troops, even 100,000, is not
an answer. One soldier told me, “The administration
states that if Congress cuts funding for the Iraq
war that they’ll be jeopardizing soldier’s
lives on the ground. What does the administration
think putting 21,500 soldiers on the ground will do
if not jeopardize their lives?”
The
president told Juan Williams of NPR yesterday that
the American people have to understand that we cannot
lose in Iraq. What he has to understand is that we
know that, and we know that his tactics are going
to do just that!
Write
and call your Representatives! Thank you!
