Misery in the Name of Freedom

MISERY IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM OBSTRUCTING INJUSTICE THE WHITE HOUSE and its quasi-official press have succeeded in demonizing the Sandinistas, but that has not translated into a corollary enthusiasm for Ronald Reagan’s favorite terrorists. With a few transitory exceptions, public opinion polls over the past five years have disclosed widespread opposition to U.S. support of the CIA-contras. The proportions have consist- ently been in the vicinity of 60% opposed, 30% in favor and 10% undecided. This, despite the fact that a majority of re- spondents have succumbed to the drumbeat of accusations that Nicaragua represents a communist threat to its Central American neighbors, and will probably allow the Soviet Union to establish military bases on its territory. However, a great deal of the opposition to the CIA-contras is based on the hard rock of perceived self-interest, not on any qualms about the devastation of Nicaragua. For many, the prospect of becoming involved in another deadly fiasco like Vietnam arouses an inhibiting anxiety. This can be inferred from responses to the question, “Would you favor intervention in Central America if it did not result in another Vietnam?” That formulation draws a favorable response of 67%. 344 Something quite similar actually occurred in reaction to the 1983 invasion of Grenada. Surveyed beforehand, a large majority of the U.S. populace opposed armed intervention. But after the deed was done, with comparatively few U.S. casual- ties to cast a pall over the proceedings, a grateful nation con- ferred its overwhelming approval. The interests and wishes of the people of Grenada — who- ever they might be — had little or nothing to do with it. Nor did it seem to matter in the least that the administration’s rationale for its unprovoked aggression was soon demonstrated to be a tissue of lies. 314 OBSTRUCTING INJUSTICE 315 As with most international issues, voting behavior and opinion poll data clearly indicate that a majority of U.S. citizens know little and care less about what kind of bloody mess their government makes in Nicaragua — as long as it doesn’t splatter on them. But significant elements of the populace are intensely involved. On the one hand are the ardent anti-communists whose fear and hate form the political base of the Reaganites’ Central America policy. They include fundamentalist churches, right- wing organizations and many individuals of great wealth. Their violent passions find an outlet in the network set up by the White House to co-ordinate illegal private funding of the CIA-contras (cf. pages 108-114). Opposing that unholy alliance is a broad spectrum of groups and individuals. Although not nearly as large or as loud as the anti-Vietnam War movement — after all, there are as yet no rafts of middle-class white kids drifting home from Central America in bodybags — the loose coalition support- ing Nicaragua in its struggle against the Reaganites has never- theless achieved some notable results. First and foremost, it has impeded the long-planned U.S. invasion of Nicaragua, which almost certainly would have been ordered by now were it not for an articulate and ener- getic opposition. Among the most effective opponents are the mainline churches, including the Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopa- lians, Lutherans, United Church of Christ, American Baptists and others. Even the U.S. Catholic Conference, while siding with its reactionary colleagues of the Nicaraguan hierarchy, has joined in the general chorus of disapproval. All have issued strongly worded denunciations of the CIA-contras and most other aspects of U.S. policy in Central America. Hundreds of individual congregations have established sister-church rela- tionships with counterparts in Nicaragua. The Leader of the Free World has even been rebuked by the church he attended as a youth, the Christian Church (Dis- ciples of Christ). A petition circulated by the Disciples Peace Fellowship at the 1987 General Assembly asked Ronald 316 MISERY IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM Reagan “how our Christian faith can justify your actions as President.… You have claimed national security reasons for withholding the rights of other countries to self-determination. You have continued to urge Congress to vote aid to the Contras, even when such aid threatens the Central American Peace Plan.... You have often favored violent solutions to world problems instead of leading our nation toward trust in diplomacy and negotiations: i.e. Grenada, Libya, the Persian Gulf, Nicaragua. “It is incumbent upon you as a fellow Christian to listen to the message of the Church, instead of depending upon advice from the Pentagon and the merchants of war material.” Confronting the lies In 1986 over 200 national religious leaders initiated a major educational and lobbying campaign that attracted consider- able attention with a dramatic demonstration on the steps of Congress, and an angry proclamation: “A scaffold of deception is being constructed around Nica- ragua. Exaggeration, misinformation, and outright falsehood form the heart of the Reagan administration’s case against Nicaragua.… The administration has been deceiving the public in its quest for military and so-called humanitarian aid to the contras. Most notably, it has been covering up credible reports that the contras are systematically committing human rights atrocities against innocent civilians... “We call upon the U.S. government to cease its promotion of fear and hatred and to cease its funding of the contra war against Nicaragua. We call upon the media to critically examine the unsubstantiated assertions made by the U.S. government regarding Nicaragua.... “We call upon all persons of faith and conscience in the U.S. to look at the effects of current U.S. policy in Nicaragua and all of Central America, and to join with us in saying to the government of the United States, IN THE NAME OF GOD, STOP THE LIES, STOP THE KILLING!” OBSTRUCTING INJUSTICE 317 Pretty strong stuff for the normally prudent souls of the mainline denominations, which have aimed the same kind of criti- cism at the arms race and other pet projects of the Reaganites. So worrisome is this trend toward rampant pacifism that one high-ranking general warned an audience of his peers at the National War College that, “The greatest challenge to all that we do now comes from within the churches. A whole new way of thinking is developing in the churches, and we have to know how to deal with it.” 345 The general might have mentioned a sizable contingent of the nation’s war veterans in the same breath. Most of those active in the Nicaragua solidarity movement first learned to distrust their government in Vietnam, but veterans of World War II, the Korean War, Grenada — even the recent war games in Honduras — are also represented. The resurgence of veterans’ anti-war sentiment is all the more remarkable for having survived the Reagan administration’s sadly effective campaign to repackage the Vietnam disaster as a “noble, selfless enterprise” (pace Richard Nixon). Many of those who did the fighting have a far different recollection, and are determined to apply their experience to current events. That determination was most dramatically brought to national attention in 1986, when four Vietnam vets publicly renounced their decorations, including a Medal of Honor, and commenced a “Fast for Life” on the Capitol steps in protest against the CIA-contras. The fast continued for 47 days, and stimulated a series of parallel activities all over the world — peace vigils, civil disobedience actions, sympathy fasts, etc. The four leaders received 10,000 letters of encouragement, many from fellow Vietnam vets who contributed an addi- tional 88 defiled decorations; other notes of encouragement came from as far away as Ireland, France and Britain’s House of Commons. Veterans have established a permanent presence in Nica- ragua. Two members of Vietnam Vets against the War based in Managua broadcast a weekly radio program about life in Nicaragua to GIs stationed in Honduras. The Veterans Peace Action Team has made plans to interpose a corps of unarmed 318 MISERY IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM vets between the CIA-contras and Nicaraguan civilians. There are also plans to send a truck convoy with 4000 tons of grain and other supplies via the Pan American Highway in mid- 1988, after a public information tour through the U.S. Veteran casualty Speeches of friendship and solidarity by U.S. veterans have become a staple of such national celebrations as the revolu- tion’s anniversary on the 19th of July. They include Brian Willson, who spoke on the occasion of the FSLN’s 25th anniversary in November of 1986. One of the four vets who led the above-mentioned “Fast for Life”, Willson told his audience of 250,000 celebrants: “Our fast was inspired by the Nica- raguan people... who present the dramatic case of a Third World nation rising up against the most powerful super- power on the face of the earth. Your revolutionary process belongs to all peoples of faith and conscience throughout the world. Therefore, it is extremely important that you survive, not only for your own good but also for the good of the people of the United States.” 346 Less than a year later, Willson lost both of his legs to a U.S. supply train in California when it ran over him during a demonstration against military shipments to the CIA-contras. After recuperating, Willson visited Congress on his new artificial legs in hopes of explaining to a House Armed Services sub- committee why he risked life and limb on behalf of Nicaragua. The sub-committee voted 10-4 to disallow his testimony, moving Rep.

Load more