peacedevelopmentsspring 2011 THE HUMAN COSTS OF WAR THINKING ABOUT PDF & OUR FIRST THIRTY YEARS

From kitchen table conversations to organizing around local and international concerns to under- homes, fear our children won’t have the lives we want standing their interconnection, PDF has focused for them. Creative thinkers are needed at the kitchen on building peaceful communities, and by exten- table and elsewhere to strategize in a complex, fluid and sion, avoiding and stopping war. challenging era, headlined by one of the most reaction- ary movements we’ve seen in a long time, attacking all We as donors, Board members and staff come from many classes and colors of people. walks of life, yet we have a common goal—creating the So how do we move the peace and justice movement conditions for peace. It hasn’t been an easy road. But after to a different level that deals with the anger and fear so 30 years, we have demonstrated our will to stay with the common today? It’s not about putting energy on one side work, and to continue supporting the people for the long or another. It is about profilerating peaceful practices, haul. working with one community group at a time, embracing Here in the U.S., we’ve achieved much in the last nonviolence, and driving through the openings we see to three decades: successes for civil rights, environmental move us forward. justice, women’s rights and demographic We at PDF have been able to survive diversity within institutions. But we still and thrive with an active Board and staff haven’t been able to stop war as a tool of who have given it their all. I give thanks U.S. policy and business interests. Looking everyday to the Creator that we’ve been back over the many times we’ve writ- able to provide grants and resources to the ten and thought about war and peace, we people who need them. PDF’s grantmak- know this is a deep struggle. We hope ing and program services provide hope for these stories will remind our PDF com- many grassroots community groups and munity of our long history, and give us even for other foundations. We know what strength to keep going. we support: peace, justice, human rights. We know we still have work to do. This And no more war. is not a time to sit back. There’s a lot of fear in this country, fear of immigrants, fear of losing jobs and Teresa Juarez President CONTEMPLATING WAR waging peace

“We at the Peace Development Fund are dedicated to

making sure that lack of sufficient funding does not “Justice is not an act stand in the way of those who wish to educate the of vengeance.” students for the next six years. With $1 billion, we public about the dangers of war and who are working John Vaughn could create direct and indirect jobs in education to build a movement for peace.” (Spring 1982) and healthcare, and clean energy in areas like Cleveland, OH that estimates say won’t return to In the three decades of PDF’s work, which included The National Priorities Project adds it all up for prerecession employment until 2024. three financial bubbles (Japanese, dot.com and the us (see www.costofwar.com), and these are just a The U.S. accounts for 42% of the world’s subprime mortgage crisis) and two recessions, few of their findings. There are 2.5 million Head military spending. It drains our pockets, it kills our the costs of war—both human and material—have Start-eligible children in the U.S., but less than children and it poisons the world. continued to escalate. In the latest recession, while a million places. The Afghan War cost for 2011 For 30 years PDF has made grants nationally states are rocked by their own financial crises, would provide Head Start funding for ALL eligible and internationally trying to slow down this war spending on the war in Afghanistan and Iraq has children for 15.6 years. It would pay for health machine. Peace, like war, we said, must be waged. continued to climb. Our grantee, the National Pri- insurance for ALL 50 million uninsured for 1.7 We and our grantees have fought for economic orities Project, wisely asks—what are real costs years. It would make a huge dent in the cost to justice, environmental sustainability, rehabilitative to ourselves, our children and our future as we convert all of the nation’s non-renewable energy justice and a principled and comprehensive im- contemplate these never-ending wars? What does production to solar or wind. migration policy, to name just a few of the issues it mean to our grantees in grassroots communities For the $1.26 trillion that the U.S. has allocated we have championed with almost 5,000 grants around the U.S. when the Obama Administration to date for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we totaling more than $21 million. These are the vital requests $119 billion for the war in Afghanistan could double the amount of Pell Grants awarded resources we bring to grassroots communities. and an additional $51 billion for the war in Iraq? to each of our 19 million college and university This is waging peace. n

Another Look at Peace Proliferating Peace from Peace Developments, In the 2003 run-up to the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Winter 1987–88 PDF Executive Director John Vaughn wrote this statement on behalf of PDF. The Contra War in Nicaragua lasted approximately from 1981 to 1988. As the President for social reform, through their steadfast, The war began as a series of rebel- advances an un- non-violent resistance to stateside terror lions against the Sandinista government that overthrew the precedented policy and unrelenting systemic oppression, Somoza dictatorship in 1979. The U.S. republican administration shift that validates show us that proliferating peace is not led by President saw the Contras as a convenient war as a pre- simply about opposing war, but ac- tool for removing the Sandinistas from power in Nicaragua, after emptive strategy tively pursuing justice both at home and accusing them of supporting the guerrillas in El Salvador, being in foreign policy, abroad. too closely allied to Cuba and being Communists. Reagan’s the Peace Develop- Proliferating peace calls each of administration covertly armed and financed the war, leading to ment Fund casts its us—individually and collectively—to the the Iran-Contra scandal. Nonetheless, American support, overt lot with the peace- consistent, sustained pursuit of equi- or covert, did not favor the Contras, so both sides agreed to a makers. We stand with the legions of table relationships between and among ceasefire in March of 1988. patriotic Americans and other members of people, nations and the environment. During this period, PDF supported groups opposed to U.S. civil society around the world who oppose Seeking justice and peace requires us to financed wars in third world countries, such as the New England placing 250,000 of our sons and daughters shape American social and cultural val- Central America Network (NECAN). NECAN was a network of in harm’s way on the notion that violence ues to respect the humanity of all people, 150 grassroots groups across New England, organized to op- is the most politically expedient remedy and apply our ingenuity to the protec- pose U.S. military intervention in Central America. to real dangers in the world. tion of everyone, not just a select few. When we think of war in the Third World, the image is very Justice is not an act of vengeance. It The persistence of inequality, political different from the image of war between the superpowers. In- is a commitment to the universal appli- exclusion, xenophobia, and exploitation stead of missiles and silos with someone’s finger on the nuclear cation of certain values such as self- in domestic public and private policies trigger, we think of razed houses, starving refugees, of soldiers determination, equality, human rights translates into a flagrant disregard for breaking down the doors at dawn, or of people farming by night and unilateral global disarmament. Now cooperation in the global arena. When and hiding in trenches from bombing raids during the day. more than ever, we believe that our we allow our political leaders to cast Of the 20 million people killed in 150 wars since 1945, none national security and global stability segments of our population to the ranks have been killed by nuclear weapons. The plague of continual rests on our ability to build new partner- of acceptable “collateral damage” for the war in the Third World brings us up against the harsh truth that ships and coalitions for the advance- achievement of political and economic even with the elimination of nuclear weapons the world would ment of these life-affirming ideals. In this goals, we silently sanction the global not be safe from war and its devastation. post-September 11th era, however, our export of these practices in the name of Although the methods of warfare in the Third World may be political leadership has allowed our fear, preserving and defending our freedom. different, the causes of war are often remarkably familiar, and nationalism and military superiority to PDF adds its voice to the dissenting superpower involvement is generally close to the surface. The lead us down a path that has entrenched global majority. We do so not out of a na- struggle of Third World peoples for control of their own lands our enemies and alienated our allies. ïve, utopian vision of the world, but with and resources and for the freedom to develop along their own Many of the activists with whom PDF confidence in the aspirations and ongo- paths has led to civil war in every region of the world. All too works are, and historically have been, ing efforts of local agents of justice and often, the major industrialized countries are directly involved domestic “casualties of war.” Nevada’s peace. Inherent within their grassroots in these wars, either as direct antagonists or as arms suppliers, Western Shoshone Indians, for example, work for social improvement are achiev- helping to fuel local conflicts at dangerous levels. have borne the burden of the legacy able, alternative strategies with global Peace requires ending the colonial era, leaving a just eco- of nuclear war for more than 50 years. possibilities for protecting the health and nomic relationship between developed countries and under- In every region of the nation, African extending the lives of humanity; building developed ones, self-determination and an end to military American, Asian American, Latino and in- economic systems that support the equi- intervention. Peace depends on the redistribution of resources— digenous peoples live in U.S. war zones. table distribution of wealth and prosper- beginning with the land—from ownership by the very few to Their communities are disproportionately ity; and preserving our limited natural stewardship by the many. It will flow from political freedom, overburdened with the location of the resources and fragile environment. allowing more democratic governments to replace oppressive nation’s most hazardous government and Imagine a world where the allocation of ones. industrial nuclear and chemical weapons resources dedicated to war were applied Peace, like war, must be waged. The peace community has and energy facilities. instead to the proliferation of peace. waged peace well by helping to push the superpowers into Their struggle teaches us that our The Peace Development Fund and its earnest negotiations on nuclear arms and by preventing more nation’s current foreign policy and dip- partners will continue to mobilize and widespread war in Central America. As we well know, this is but lomatic strategies—built on the threat support the on-going efforts of peace- a beginning and the road ahead is long. We must keep up the of military action—have high human con- makers who have dedicated and given pressure to address more fully the militarization of the earth, its sequences in the homeland, long before their lives not only to our survival, but to terrible expression in the Third World and strategies for bringing and generations after the declaration of the uplift and betterment of the world’s peace with justice to the entire planet. n war against a foreign enemy. Advocates greatest hope—her people. n

2 m peacedevelopments/30 years building peace War at Home War is Not a Movie and Abroad: In 2005 PDF made one of its first Challenge of dehumanization of the enemy, Post Traumatic Stress Peace grants to the Amherst, MA-based Veter- Disorder (PTSD). Indeed, as part of this project, Storytelling ans Education Project (VEP) for “Revealing VEP’s work with newly-returned Iraq veterans As Rob Wilson of the Veterans Education Project the Real Costs of War.” This project provided attracted the attention of psychologists planning a (VEP) puts it, “They’re able to start to make sense of it all programs to college and high school students, as conference on understanding Iraq veterans’ issues through sharing their stories.” Working within a com- well as adults, about war and military service. and treating PTSD. VEP staff members and speak- munity, oftentimes with those who feel disenfranchised A key goal was to provide events that broke ers provided the opening session at the psycholo- and not part of a movement, PDF grassroots groups give through the severe polarization that existed (and gists’ all-day workshop. This collaboration with area these individuals a voice. The experiences differ, as do still does) over the war in Iraq and to organize psychologists was an important building block to the ages of the storytellers. Yet over many years—from inclusive, non-partisan events to reach “beyond their program of supporting newly-returned veter- World War II veterans to young children—they have the choir” to audiences who were undecided ans. “Providing this level of care and support is a shared their experiences of war to help others, as well as about their opposition to the war or supported the prerequisite to expanding our program with young- themselves. n war. er Iraq and Afghanistan veteran speakers with the Their programs generated heavy news cover- experience and credibility to open the public’s eyes age in area newspapers and electronic media. to the human costs of war.” “There were memorable moments at some of our Since 1982, VEP has organized and trained events, when those who have protested against military veterans to use their stories to illuminate war since day one (yet had never spoken to a the realities of war and the toll it takes, both upon war veteran) respectfully exchanged opinions those who wage it and upon civilians who endure and listened to men and women who had fought it. By teaching the lessons of history, such as the the war,” Executive Director Rob Wilson remem- , discussing the hard realities and bered. “The respect and sensitivity that grew from violence, they asked listeners to think critically these encounters did more to foster a community about war and violence and consider alternatives. dialogue than ten political, partisan speeches.” “We strongly feel this contributes to peace,” they Veterans spoke first-hand to students and com- say. VEP has grown from two speakers with a munity members about a number of issues: civilian couple of programs to 30, with 160 program casualties, military training, the media disconnect, hours a year and training for eight to ten new

Vietnam Veterans Fight for Peace From Peace Developments, Fall 1989

In 1969, while thousands of young men were being drafted to steps of the United States Congress. fight in Southeast Asia, Sylvester Stallone was teaching physi- At the grassroots, among the groups which the Peace Devel- cal education at an exclusive girls’ school in Switzerland. The opment Fund helps to support, the involvement of Vietnam vet- Vietnam vets who survived their tours of duty frequently came erans had been remarkable. Veterans for Life of Minneapolis, home to humiliation and public reproach for their participa- the Veterans Speakers Alliance in San Francisco, the Veterans tion in the war. As the body counts mounted they faced greater Education Project of Western Massachusetts, and the Veteran- abuse; no one, it seemed, wanted to hear the veterans’ story. Vietnam Restoration Project of rural Garberville, California, are Twenty years later, the paranoid revenge fantasies of Stal- all organizations which PDF has funded. lone’s “Rambo” movies have formed the image many Ameri- Through their work, these and other veterans’ groups have cans, especially young people, have about the Vietnam War. also taught the rest of us an important lesson: by opposing the Ronald Reagan was especially taken with White House screen- militaristic policies of our government, we honor those who ings of Rambo and Rambo: First Blood. But for liberal news died. Among the men drafted for service in Vietnam, lower- media and timid Washington policy makers, the movies tell us, income people predominated. While many young men of means we might have won the struggle for democracy against a cruel, enjoyed deferments through prolonged college study or divinity faceless enemy. school, low-income people suffered casualties out of proportion The truth, of course, is very much different. The Vietnam War to their draft-age numbers. Their sacrifices deserve our respect. was fought with an indiscriminate fury that rivaled anything in What accounts for the emergence of the Vietnam veterans in World War II except the bombings of Hiroshima the peace movement? One reason may be that and Nagasaki. Napalm and white phosphorous, these men and women have had to develop saturation bombings, free-fire zones and strate- their own resources to find support that the gic hamlets—the techniques of modern con- government—and society in general—has de- ventional warfare—found their full expression nied them. President Reagan raised the Veter- in Vietnam. But though the people of Vietnam ans Administration to cabinet-level status, but bore the full weight of the U.S. war machine, funding for veterans’ health and aid programs they were not the only ones to suffer. was simultaneously slashed. In response, vets Since the fall of Saigon, more Vietnam vets created their own veterans’ centers, building have died by suicide than were killed in combat. up a range of organizing skills that they have Many of those who came out of Vietnam alive been able to apply toward other issues. and physically whole carry less obvious wounds Vietnam veterans have a specific motive for of their service: heroin was cheap and plentiful sharing the truth about war and military life. in Southeast Asia and some retuned with an ad- The government now spends $1.5 billion an- diction. Many more are suffering the delayed effects of Agent Or- nually on its recruitment efforts. As in the past, inner city youth ange, the dioxin-laced defoliant that has cancer rates skyrocket- are often the focus of recruiting campaigns, with recruiters and ing among exposed vets. And thousands of vets are dealing with school administrators encouraging the belief that service is a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a debilitating complex of way to escape poverty. Recruiting tactics range from subtle to combat-related problems that psychologists say is at the root of overwhelming, but veterans’ peace groups have developed the vets’ high incidence of homelessness and violence. effective ways to counter the messages that young people are But the legacy of suffering and misunderstanding that receiving about military service. followed the war has also brought a profound commitment The legitimacy that veterans bring to the peace movement to peace by many Vietnam-era veterans. In fact, at both the has opened doors that might otherwise have remained closed. grassroots and the national level, Vietnam vets have been lead- As a rule, western cultures have not learned to honor resistance ers in organizing against militarism: , the vet who and civil disobedience in the face of violence or oppression. lost his legs at the Concord Naval Weapons Station; Charles Through movies, books and television, the myth of the warrior Clements, a former pilot turned physician, prominent activist in continues to be reinforced. The veterans have faced the horrible, support of the National Freeze Campaign; and Charles Liteky, destructive reality of that myth; their insistence on peace, and priest and winner of the Congressional , who their prominence in the grassroots peace movement, are at last helped to organize the dramatic Veterans Fast for Life on the doing justice to the respect that nations pay to their soldiers. n Opposing the militaristic War is Not a Movie policies of our Reflections from government, we honor Our Readers veterans annually. those who have died. awarded by local chapters PDF has funded VEP of the United Way and the over these three Red Cross, the Daily Hamp- decades, sometimes shire Gazette and other com- as a community organizing grant, sometimes munity business leaders to a Hampshire County through Donor Advised Funds and special grant organization, in recognition of “outstanding com- initiatives such as the Challenge of Peace. munity service.” The award acknowledges the Pacifist, war-tax resister and advocate for hundreds of volunteer hours and the thousands social justice, Randy Kehler, received the first of dollars of free services the veterans provide in Peace Development Fund Fellowship in 1985 and the community each year through VEP’s varied worked for PDF’s Exchange Project from 1986- programs. The group received official commen- 1988 (for more about this see PDF’s history blog dations for its work with high-risk youth from “30 Years of Peace Development,” www.peacede- the Massachusetts State Senate, the Congressio- velopmentfund.wordpress.com and the article nal Black Caucus of the U.S. Congress, and the “We’re Not Supposed to Blow Each Other Up”). National Council on Crime and Delinquency. He writes about VEP, “I’ve long felt that personal Reflecting on their nearly 30 years of doing this On The (Total) Human testimonials by military veterans—and especially work, Rob Wilson says they still consider them- Costs of War combat veterans—are among the most powerfully selves a grassroots organization. “Veterans are When peace is declared, you can count up the dead influential activities that people who oppose war motivated by the grassroots nature of the work,” on all sides, the wounded, the missing materials, can possibly undertake. Their gripping stories he says. “They understand how important it is that the scars in the environment, the missing pleasures very often touch a deep place inside their listen- other young people and the public understand the and joys, and put down a number. The PDF call for ers that less personal, more theoretical presen- veterans’ experience. Students get a perspective essays about the human costs of war asks about tations cannot possibly penetrate. I’ve not only from veterans outside of textbooks and movies, a family or friends currently deployed in U.S. military seen this happen at VEP presentations; I’ve felt it perspective that de-glamorizes war. adventures, as though associated costs could be happen inside me.” “War is so different from movies and video- calculated now, in real time. Is it that simple? Those VEP’s speakers earned the prestigious Para- games,” he concludes. “Our veterans are the total costs will be huge, but perhaps it is way too gon Award for Community Enrichment in 2009, antidote to that.” n early for even a plausible guess at the magnitude of a total. The costs of wars continue to add up, dwarfing the so-called national debts of nations, and they will do so as long as we manage to survive the wars that we cannot seem to prevent, no matter how “Yes, That’s My Story, Too.” impoverished we become with each one, were the Children of War, true costs to be rigorously calculated and updated. Los Angeles, California The definite article in the phrase “The costs of war” from Teaching Peace News, suggests that somewhere, somehow, sometime, a Spring 1993 grand total can be worked up and set down in final summary splendor. “Being there for each other” is the guiding This is the assumption that I wish to challenge and force behind an extraordinary organization of which I don’t think can survive intelligent scrutiny. young people who have learned to build trust across barriers of diversity and psychological Until easy political miscalculations can give way to trauma. They are refugees and immigrants, plausible visionary accounting during run-ups to pos- or the children of these, who fled torture, sible new wars, the total costs of war will increase, imprisonment and the tragedies of war only to face prejudice, poverty and isolation in the inexorably, with passing time. And trying to prevent U.S. They are youth from the inner city where costs is more complicated than ever, as wars can PDF’s Teaching Peace School Mediators drive-by shootings and gang activities cause now start in secret, without any public discussion at people to fear for their lives on a day-to-day basis. all, even of benefits, as is the case, for example, in Children of War’s Los Angeles chapter “Our parents have their work. Children the U.S. CIA drone bombings of Pakistan. was founded in 1987 by a young Guatemalan of War gives us our chance to work, to have There are some benefits to be derived from refugee, Marvyn Perez, who, with his two something to do that we want to do, a chance sisters, had been kidnapped and tortured to speak out in our own voices,” says Nancy armed conflict, but the benefits side of the ledger re- until they fled Guatemala. An example of Figueroa, age 20, the daughter of Guatema- mains permanently in heavy debt to the costs side, vision and courage, Marvyn was on the first lan refugees. With a grant from the Peace so that war in general is a losing proposition for all national Children of War tour to schools and Development Fund, Los Angeles Children churches across the country. In 1987, under of War will finally have a part-time youth sides, as we should be constantly reminded. I urge the threat of Guatemalan death squads in Los organizer to coordinate their many activities the PDF to remind us, incessantly. Angeles, he helped organize the group’s first from the office, which is located in a church Bob Ackermann national conference there, bringing with him downtown. As part of national Children of a diverse group of youth. War’s 1993 “Wake Up Call!” Campaign, youth Amherst, MA Today, the group includes Central Ameri- will visit six L.A. high schools and ten com- cans and Cambodians, South Africans in munity-based organizations—reaching over exile, African Americans and Latinos, middle 500 young people. This spring and summer, class and poor whites and children of color they will hold two youth conferences, where from all parts of the city. personal testimonies are followed by support Iraq and Afghanistan War Costs Everything comes out of the sharing of groups and workshops on oppression theory, their stories, their listening to each other. organizing and community building skills. “Telling your story brings you into my life,” “They have seen the worst of the very explains Alex Ratner, 19. “You begin to realize worst,” says Judith Thompson, National that underneath our different cultures, how Director of Children of War. “My image different we look, we all have the same hurts, is of the phoenix rising from the ashes. the same need for love in the same way.”At They come together not around a political group meetings, in conferences they organize agenda—and that’s important. They come and lead, they explore the ways that their together out of the need to tell and listen to personal experiences reflect the larger picture; each other’s stories. This is what our politi- how oppressions are interlinked; how racism, cal movements need: this kind of communi- sexism, classism affect them in their personal ty, built on compassion, feeling, and mutual lives; how to change conditions—the violence support. This makes their movement solid, within as well as in the larger social structure. long-lasting.” n

www.nationalpriorities.org peacedevelopments/spring 2011 m 4 Reflections from Our Readers A War Story or Two “I wonder where the peace Our phone rang at midnight. My first thought immediately. No one questioned me and I was was who would call this late at night when I’m movement is today.” successful in getting our packet to every single NC deep in sleep. My second thought… something Linda Stout congressman on the floor. We know for sure that must be wrong. It was my sister, telling me my we changed five “no” votes to “yes” that day. nephew had been injured in Afghanistan. My nephew James had eight surgeries, with James had joined the Marines over a year ago several more to go, and has a rough road ahead of and had been deployed in December as part of stepped up to make this work happen along with him, but he’s very much alive. They’re predicting a the new buildup in Afghanistan. His job was to many other supporters in Boston. It was a power- recovery time of two to three years, but even that drive large trucks to transport supplies and men to ful and amazing partnership. None of this would is questionable about how much use of his leg he remote places where the Taliban had the great- have happened without their belief in our work. will have. I think about James and about all of the est hold. He was promoted to driving an armored We started organizing “Silent Coffee Breaks other young people I saw at the hospital when I truck that was supposed to be “land mine” proof.” for Peace” in the textile mills where many of our did visit him, who felt forced to join the military He told us of his fear when an IED—the new term members worked educating mill workers about as the way out of poverty. I’m thinking about all for road side bombs—blew up three feet in front the real reason for the war. Since everyone in the of the newly disabled people in Iraq and Afghani- of his truck. Although it scared him and the noise mills gets a 15 minute coffee break, it was the per- stan. I’m thinking of what the next step will be so was deafening, no damage was sustained. We fect opportunity. Some of our truck driver mem- that James and all of these other young people were so thankful he was in an armored truck. bers drove all over the country to the different can have the future that we all want for them, and My sister got the call telling her the bomb went mills carrying the “Silent Coffee Breaks for Peace” for ourselves. We must join together to create the off right under the driver’s side where James was organizing packets. We received a call from a truck power to change this! sitting. His left leg was mangled and his bones driver in Kansas asking us to overnight organizing And I also wonder where the peace movement were blown to bits. packets to a truck stop in Nevada where he would is today. It seems they’re almost invisible when The first friend I told said, “Thank God! Now be the next day. at one point we were so organized and strong. he will be out of that hell hole with his mind and Then the truck drivers began to talk to other Because of organizations like PDF the peace move- most of his body intact!” I knew she meant well drivers on their CB radios and all of a sudden we ment was able to include poor people in their but I wondered how much of his mind would were getting calls from drivers who were not even efforts. Now I read about protesters standing at come out unbroken from this experience. part of our group or region asking for packets. military funerals and wonder how that message My uncle, the patriarch and also a right wing Although some drivers were hostile to the idea, can possibly have any effect. I’ve been a lifelong fundamentalist of the family, said “Well, that’s the when one would begin to talk about his son, peace activist but I would have real problems with price you have to pay to protect your country.” daughter or other kin who was serving, the tone the disrespect and lack of understanding of peace My sister, a Jehovah’s Witness, who has not would change and more and more people became protesters if it had been James’ funeral I were at- spoken to me in over 20 years because I’m a les- sympathetic and joined in the cause. USA Today tending. n bian, called me at midnight to express her concern published an article about this spontaneous phe- and wanted me to keep her informed. nomenon of truck drivers organizing against the While we waited for more news, I wondered, war. what kind of system do we live in, where a young We decided to hold a national press conference. man who was the first in our family to ever gradu- The advice from the national peace organizations ate college, yet unemployed five years later, a pa- was to “forget it” because two national marches The Post-War Interlude gan and 14th generation Quaker, who was against were happening in Washington, DC during the from Peace Developments, Spring 1991 this war, felt forced to join the military as his only same time and they felt that we would not be able way out of poverty? to get coverage. We proceeded with our press The First Gulf War, from August 1990 to It’s a familiar story and one that reminds me of conference anyway. February 1991 was waged against Iraq by organizing poor people in rural Piedmont North We created a large temporary wall—a wall for a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 Carolina during the first Iraq war. Our organiza- the living—and told the press we never wanted to nations led by Britain and the U. S. It was tion, Piedmont Peace Project (PPP), worked as have to build a wall for the dead again. Everyone precipitated by the invasion of Kuwait by tirelessly as any other peace organization, but pos- who had a family member or friend was asked to Iraqi troops and western fears about losing sibly for different reasons. We coined the phrase add their name, and as anyone who has seen the the oil supply. “No Blood for Oil” because over 500 people Vietnam Memorial, they likewise added pictures, As we listen to the “lessons of the Gulf connected to our organization were called to serve tokens and letters. We set the wall up in front of War” drawn for us by the media, the mili- in that war. Our community was decimated, los- Cannon Mills with their smoke stacks spewing in tary and government leaders, we have to be ing many of our doctors, dentists, lawyers, and the background. We invited the public to come struck by how many of these lessons have nurses, etc. Why? Because it’s only through the and add the names of their loved ones. nothing at all to do with Saddam Hussein, military that most poor people are able to gain At one point, I noticed the Grand Wizard of the the Middle East or the “new world order,” these skills. It’s a very common way poor people KKK walking in our direction. I was frightened and but instead seem to portray the war as a in the South overcome poverty and get an educa- started looking for police protection. He walked great cleansing of the American psyche. tion. straight over to the wall, bent over and added a PPP decided to organize after understanding name and picture, I assume of his grandson. Then Here are a few lessons we should have that this war was not about national safety, but he quietly walked away. This was a man who had learned. for profit and control of oil. We knew the war led the Greensboro Massacre 12 years earlier, and • Even a “just war” is war. We must work was starting even before most peace groups did had led protests and violence against PPP. for the day when people will think of war because of our communications with members We made national headlines in papers like the as they think of slavery today: a brutal, and family. Our organizing efforts became national Washington Post and USA Today, and our mem- inhuman system that doesn’t work. almost immediately. bers speaking about their children and family serv- • War must be stopped before it starts. We called at the beginning of January to warn ing in a war for oil was picked up by CNN. Now is the time to stop the war that may national groups, including PDF, of a major bomb- The following week we went to the Lobbying be waged ten years from now. ing invasion on January 17, 1991. Most people did Day in Washington, DC, organized by the national • Despite the media stereotypes of Arabs as not believe us, but Meg Gage, PDF’s director did. peace groups, to ask our congressmen to vote to either terrorists or wealthy potentates, the She moved immediately to raise money to help us stop the war. We worked desperately to get infor- Arab world is full of desperate poverty. It organize and continued to fund us throughout the mation to our representatives who were on the is symptomatic of our relations with the organizing efforts. In addition, Dan Petegorsky at floor. We soon found out that the only way to get Third World that we can send half a mil- PDF helped us translate the complex issues of this information to the congressmen was through the lion troops and their supplies to protect war and what was happening so that we, the orga- young Congressional Pages who went directly to our interests, but we cannot provide even nizers, could understand and communicate them. the representatives on the floor. minimal food relief and development as- One of the founders of PDF, Bob Mazer, especially I immediately took off speeding in my wheel- sistance to victims of starvation. Without chair to our congressman’s office across the addressing these pressing concerns, Linda Stout is the Director of street. I went in and tentatively asked for a page the region will erupt in more wars in the Spirit in Action, a national to deliver information that Congressman Hefner future. movement building organiza- “had to have.” The office person picked up the • During [this] interlude of peace, we have tion. She was the Executive phone, called for a page, and within ten minutes to seize the moment to challenge the Director of PDF from 1996- he delivered our packet to Hefner. After that, I underlying attitudes, assumptions and 1999. Her new book, Collective went rushing to each NC congressional office—11 systems that will inevitably draw us into Visioning (Berrett Koehler) will total—and in an authoritative voice said Congress- war again and again. n be released in May 2011. man So & So needs this information right now. (www.lindastout.org) Please call a page and have him/her deliver this

5 m peacedevelopments/30 years building peace PO Box 1280 Mission District Office peace Amherst, MA 01004-1280 PO Box 40250 Nonprofit Organization development Tel: (413)256-8306 San Francisco, CA 94140-0250 U.S. Postage Tel: (415)642-0900 fund www.peacedevelopmentfund.org PAID Permit No. 444 Springfield, MA

I n t h i s i s s u e The Human Costs of War PDF Looks Back over 30 Years PDF Looks Forward to the Next 30 Years

Peace through Justice

Board of Directors Kimo Campbell Reflections from Our Readers Kentfield, CA Ali El-Issa Brooklyn, NY

Lori Goodman, treasurer Durango, CO The Legacy of the Teresa Juarez, president Chimayo, NM Peace Movement for Tina Reynolds, acting secretary Brooklyn, NY Future Generations The peace movement has deeply influenced the Staff way Americans view war and war making. We Jaime Arsenault can see the effects of this legacy of a change Development/Program Associate in consciousness in the fact that so many in [email protected] this country are skeptical of U.S. war making Kazu Haga Program Coordinator in Afghanistan. A recent poll showed that 60% believe it is a lost [email protected] cause, and 10% are unsure. This means that 70% do not believe a Paul Haible Executive Director war there is good for our country. We need to take solace from this [email protected] trend—the government can say that we need to be there deploying The Next 30 Years of Ray Santiago fire-power and drone missiles, and troops, but most Americans sim- Development Officer Peace and Justice [email protected] ply do not believe it. This is a powerful impact that the peace move- Kathleen Sharkey ment has had—to create more questioning minds and open hearts. A simple bequest written into Development Consultant your will can help ensure the [email protected] This may not be the fullness of what those of us who helped to future of the Peace Development Arlean Solis organize the Women’s Pentagon Action in November of 1980 would Fund. Together, we can strength- Director of Administration and have hoped, but it is progress. We gathered at the building where so en the social justice movement Finance [email protected] much death had been planned, put gravestones in the lawn, wove to create the new systems and yarn across the entrances to symbolically reweave the web of life, institutions essential to building a peaceful, just, and equitable (labor donated) and chanted and cried in mourning. I remember being amazed that world. we could completely encircle this mammoth building, using yarn held in our hands to travel the spaces our hands could not reach. You may leave your gift to gen- eral support, endowment sup- Over 100 women were arrested at entrances to the Pentagon, but port, or a specific purpose that Mission the most moving part for me was the silent march through Ar- fits within PDF’s Mission, Vision, lington cemetery—the earth herself seemed to hold her breath as and Goals—to provide grants, Statement training, and other resources we walked. The Unity Statement of the Action declared: “We are in partnership with communi- The Peace Development gathering at the Pentagon on November 17 because we fear for our ties, organizations, trainers, and Fund works to build the lives. We fear for the life of this planet, our Earth, and the life of donors with whom we share a capacity of community- common vision for peace and based organizations through our children who are our human future . . . We women are gather- social change. grants, training, and other ing because life on the precipice is intolerable.” resources as partners The peace movement gave birth to a very deep consciousness For more information about in the human rights and leaving a bequest to PDF and social justice movements. that I see growing every day: We are One with each other, One with specific wording, call 800-424- As a public foundation, the Earth, One with the great energy of the life force, and as long as 3557 x101, or email ray@peace- we nourish, foster, and we are motivated by love, we will thrive and insure a better life for fund.org. n encourage the diverse, self- sustaining and economically future generations. viable communities that are essential to building a Jane Midgley peaceful, just and equitable world. Albuquerque, NM