Trinity College Hosts 16th Annual Student Conference on Peacemaking, Diversity and Social Change

Andy Shallal's Speech

Founder, Mesopotamia Cultural Society and Peace Cafe

We live in troubled times – times that demand action. We live in times where sitting on the sidelines is no longer an option. The Italian poet Dante wrote “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality”. We live in times where the line between reality and fiction is getting murkier. Where speaking about peace takes more courage than pushing for war. Peace demonstrators all over the world and here in the United States are being arrested, beaten, shot and sometimes killed. Last week in Oakland California rubber bullets were used to break up demonstrators protesting the war.

These are times of ripeness – the world is ripe for change. Indeed, in he words of Gandhi, “we have to become the change we wish to see”.

Never has the world witnessed such a powerful show of moral force. Millions of people all over the world are speaking truth to power and where non-violent struggle is re-emerging as a tool of justice and freedom – The New York Times called it “the other superpower”.
World leaders talk about peace but do little to support peace structures. They talk about peace while spending more and more money on war. While they speak of peace, there are laboratories - paid for by our money - that are devising weapons of annihilation.

Our political discourse is now filled with double speak and Orwellian jingoistic jargon. Shortly after a very large peace demonstration in Washington, a government official was asked to comment about the overwhelming number of demonstrators, he responded “If anyone wants to see a peaceful resolution to this conflict they should not oppose the war”.
We have sanitized, glorified and commercialized war. No longer do we have to see the horrors of the bombs we drop – that hissing whistling sound that keeps children clinging to their mothers. No longer we have to see and smell the blood and the guts and the brains splattered on the sidewalks. Or that nauseating smell of burning flesh. No longer do we have to hear the screams of mothers looking for their children only to find them with missing limbs – or the wailing of women. No longer do we have to see, proud, old men beating their head with their own hands or the chanting of the funeral prayer – God is Great – God is Great. No longer do we have to hear a father say about his fallen son .. “He was like a flower”. The villagers in Hilla speak of the night when the bombs fell like grapes from the sky – 61 dead from a large canister dropped by parachute that explodes in the sky and sends out 65 crazed little bombs with razor sharp fragments to kill everything in sight. These little bright yellow bombs will sometimes fail to explode and will remain dormant – sometimes for years - until disturbed by a child or a passerby. Thousands of people have been maimed or killed by unexploded cluster bombs.

At Kindi Hospital in Baghdad the number of injured civilians had exceeded the number of hospital beds. The red cross said that there were so many that they stopped keeping count. A 12 year old boy named Ali survived an attack on his family's home – he lost both arms. His mother and father were buried under the rubble. He said "We didn't want war. I was scared of this war. Our house was just a poor shack. Why did they want to bomb us?"

The generators operating the refrigeration units for the morgue had broken down and the rotting smell of flesh was permeating the corridors of the hospital. Outside the hospital was a pick up truck with a bloodied heap of corpses. A man shouted -- they promised that they would not hurt the civilians – they told us 100%.

After the horrific accidental killing of a family fleeing Basra – several soldiers went into shock –
"The Iraqis are sick people and we are the chemotherapy, these people are sick man" said a young corporal in a moment of uncontrollable rage.

The damage is done and there aren't enough Hallebertons or Stevedoring's or Bechtels to repair it. John Simpson of the BBC filed a report from the north where a Kurdish convoy he was traveling with was struck by a US missile “This is just a scene from hell here. All the vehicles on fire. There are bodies burning around me, there are bodies lying around, there are bits of bodies on the ground”. He concluded his report by saying “I will never forget this scene”.

War, by its very nature is a crime. It is a crime against humanity and all living things. It is the refuge of the weak and the unimaginative. Never have we seen so many leaders with such little imagination.

But imagination reigns high with those trying to cash in on the war. Toy makers are falling over themselves conjuring up the latest video games and toy weaponry for Operation Iraqi Freedom – Electronics giant Sony has applied for a patent for the term “shock and awe” for their latest video game.

And No sooner than private Lynch's rescue was announced – Hollywood moguls were contacting the West Virginia family to secure production rights for a made for TV movie.
I was happy to hear that in our efforts to rebuild Iraq we are going to start with demilitarizing their educational system. When we are done in Iraq – I wish we would turn our attention to our school system here in America. Federal guidelines in the United States require that every child in high school be solicited by the military. In my daughter's high school military recruiters are there everyday to hand out brochures and recruit kids. They give them free pens, flashlights and other goodies. In fact in most school districts, career day has become synonymous with military recruitment day.

Our once free press has been seduced and embedded. Reporters are enraptured with their own coverage – wearing their night goggles and their camouflage chic - or riding shotgun in a humvee or a tank – they report with the zealotry of a wide eyed child in a candy store – awesome – amazing – spectacular – it's national geographic meets survivor -- and there you have it – “the voila factor”, as the Pentagon calls it. It is no wonder that Andrew Card, White House chief of staff termed this war ”a product to be marketed to the public”.

Paula Zahn and Katie Couric envelope us with their warm toothy smiles and small chirps between gloating reports about heroic rescue missions and softening the battleground and rolling on to Baghdad as if it were the Indianapolis 500. The never ending interviews with soldiers handing out candy to little Iraqi children and attending to a wounded child or giving water to a parched Iraqi POW. Ah the glamour of war.

How many times would we have to see the tearing down of Saddam's statue – As in all wars – tearing down is easy now comes the hard part – rebuilding a society that has been dumbed down by an oppressive regime and 12 years of sanctions. The looting and chaos in the streets is foretelling of what's to come in the days ahead.

The US forces are watching in glee while ordinary Iraqis go on looting and pillaging their own country. Imagine. What is more telling is that US and British forces stood steadfast in front of the Petrol Ministry surrounding it with tanks and soldiers. The message is clear “it's the oil stupid”. You can rape and pillage all you want – but don't touch that black gold. Embassies of the so called coalition were protected while other embassies were left to fend for themselves.

Yes we have come a long way in making sure the acrid sights, sounds and smells of war are covered by the obscene stench of ignorance cloaked in patriotic non sense. The Fox News Factor. Any reporter that speaks out of line becomes the weakest link and is kicked off the island.

Filming Iraqi soldiers spread eagle on the pavement or kneeling before their captors is deemed morally acceptable – while American and British POWS shown on Iraqi television is deemed reprehensible and disgusting.

Last Tuesday US warplane bombed the Al Jazeera office killing their correspondent. The same day two other reporters were killed by US bombs in a separate incident. Victoria Clarke – spokesperson for the Pentagon – said that “journalists should not have been there in the first place”. There has been 12 reporters killed during this war – many are believed to have been targeted mainly due to their independent reporting. I spoke with a reporter from National Geographic who told me that the US troops fired directly into the hotel where the reporters were stationed in Baghdad. They claim that there were shots coming from there. He said none of my colleagues heard the shots. What makes this event truly chilling is in how it has been dealt with in the US media. Not one major US network reporter or news station has challenged the Pentagon into a full investigation – not one.

Smart bombs and laser guided missiles are superceding diplomacy. We have dropped over 20000 bombs on Iraq – enough fire power for 30 Hiroshimas. These smart bombs have an 85% success rate – that means 3000 bombs missed their target. In fact, some bombs didn't just miss their target, they missed the country all together landing in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria in some instances causing death and injury.

When asked about civilian casualties, the administration responds with regrets – often blaming others for “making us do it”. Last week 4 two ton bombs were dropped in the Mansour district of Baghdad leaving a crater 50 meters wide and killing 14 civilians – Central Command confirmed the bombing without any apology stating that they had a tip that Saddam was in the vicinity. The White House directives are always couched in careful language of regret and deemed an accident – no apology is given.

In June of 1993 President Clinton delivered 23 cruise missiles into Baghdad – 8 of them missed their intended target – one hit the home of Iraq's best known artist – Laela Al-Attar – she was killed instantly and her daughter lost her eyesight. No apology given.

In the last century alone nearly 100 million people were killed in wars – mostly poor people killing other poor people, a 500% increase over the 19th century. It is ironic that one in 40 people in the world is a soldier compared to one physician for every 1030 people.

We are addicted to war. In 1997 US military spending was at 247 billion dollars. This year the US military budget slated at 345 billion will reach nearly a half a trillion dollars due to the Iraq war. This in comparison to the state department budget which stands at 8 billion. In less than five years we have nearly doubled our military spending. It is no secret that we spend as much on our military as the rest of the world combined.

Our willingness to fight wars is being bolstered by a very effective campaign of dissonance, marketing and fear. No one will forget Colin Powel's appearance at the UN – with a power point presentation in one hand and a laser pointer in another; we were treated to the ABC's of deceit and deception. Mobile chemical factories, al-Qaeda triangles and nuclear mischief – all fingers pointed to Baghdad. Never mind that the document was loaded with outdated plagiarized information or that the nuclear link was based on a forgery or that Usama bin forgotten called Saddam Hussein an infidel – - the die was cast. The tanks began to roll. And the rest is history being made. Today over 60% of the American public believe that Saddam had his hands in 9/11. And as for the smoking gun – well there are plenty of those in Iraq today.

Then there is the terrorist alerts flashed before us every day. Yellow – orange – red. I don't quite understand the logic behind announcing the level. If you were a terrorist wouldn't you wait for a low level to attack? Confusion is the weapon of control and we are the victims.
Hermann Goering, Hitler's deputy, said at his 1946 Nuremberg War Crimes trial: "the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger"

The warmongers are basking in their moment of glory. They have forged America into what they call “The New American Century”. A time of war and mayhem sanitized by technology and well orchestrated press conferences. The line between those who make decisions of national importance and those who would reap enormous economic benefits is blurred. Already – the vultures are lining up to get a piece of the action - Companies like the Carlysle Group have reaped huge benefits in this war on terrorism – they specialize in oil investments among other ventures. Their board of directors reads like the who's who in government – topping the list is The Bushes, Cheneys, Bakers and Bin Ladin's. Yes Bin Laden's family is a major investor in the Carlysle Group. Carlyle has established itself as the gatekeeper between private business interests and U.S. defense spending. And as the Carlyle investors watched the World Trade towers go down, the group's financial prospects went up. Last week a permitted demonstration on the sidewalk in front of the Carlyle Group office in New York netted 3 arrests – something that has never happened before for this type of demonstration.

And this is just the beginning.

The man who will be heading the interim government of Iraq is a man named Jay Garner – an X general who now owns and runs Sy Technology – one of the largest contractors with the defense department. His ties to the neocons in the US and the Likud in Israel is no accident. His right hand man is named Ahmed Chalabi – a wealthy Iraqi exile – whose taste for Gucci and Rolex is only superceded by his hunger for power. His shady bank dealings landed him a conviction on 31 felony counts in Jordan and a sentence of 22 years in jail in absentia. Months before the start of the invasion, the CIA issued a classified report saying that Ahmed Chalabi would not be an effective leader - he had no popular support in Iraq.

But Chalabi is the darling of the Pentagon. Last week the US military airlifted him into Southern Iraq. His most important qualification is his willingness to allow himself to be used to advance the agenda for the Pentagon and the neo conservatives in the administration – which according to the neocon think tank – Project for a new American Century – is global domination.

We are a peace illiterate society. Why is it that if you enlist to go to war – you get paid and trained to kill while those of you who have enlisted to work for peace have to secure loans and work nights to make ends meet. Our history is taught through the eyes of Generals using the lens of war. How often do we study the peacemakers? Sure, most of us may have heard of Gandhi and King, but few learn about Jeanette Rankin – the first woman elected to the US Congress and the lone voice against WWI and WWII - or Ginetta Sagan – founder of Amnesty International USA - or Dorothy Day – founder of the Catholic Worker's Union - or Howard Zinn – pacifist and historian who always started his lectures at BU with “you can't be neutral on a moving train” he is also the author of People's History of the United States or Caezar Chavez – who worked for justice for migrant workers - or Joan Baez – most of you may know her as a folk singer, but few know that she is a pacifist - or Albert Einstein who said that you cannot work for peace while preparing for war - or Ron Kovic – a Vietnam vet who wrote born on the fourth of July and has rejected violence in all its forms or Helen Keller – who proved that physical limitations would not get in the way of her powerful call to non violence.

I have been to countless teach ins all over the country and I have met the peacemakers.
I met Yitshak of the Parent's Circle. Parents who lost a child in the senseless violence in Israel and Palestine and have vowed to reject hate.

I met Maysoon, a young Palestinian woman who lives in Ramallah under an occupation that has lasted over 35 years. She formed a partnership with Israelis to reach better understanding and work toward common goals of justice and fairness.

Last winter, I went to Sarajevo in Bosnia and met young middle school children: Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs who see hope in the midst of despair. Children that have lost a mother or a father or both in a senseless war that lasted over 3 years and took the lives of over 200 thousand people and rendered 2 million homeless.

I met Nancy – a mother of a marine fighting in the Iraq war – who feels that war will only bring more pain and suffering to other mothers. She shows a body bag when she speaks to remind others of the horror of war.

I met David with Peaceful Tomorrows - whose brother died in the World Trade Center attack and had sent a letter to Bush saying – “not in my brother's name”.

I met Medea who led a hunger strike in front of the white house for 4 months named Code Pink – telling the world and the president that war is not the answer.

I met Gabriela whose photo exhibit of Iraqi children put a face on the people of Iraq.
I met students from the Duke Ellington School who staged a reading of Aristophones' anti war play – Lysistrata – as part of an international response by artists against war.

I met Barbara – a congresswoman from California who said that I do not want to see this war on terrorism spiral out of control.

I met Damu of Black Voices for Peace speak out about the injustices of war and its effect on people of color in this country and all over the world.

I met Cindy whose daughter Rachel Corrie was killed in Gaza while protecting the homes of Palestinians from being demolished. Her daughter's death will not be in vain.

I met Adam a Jew who joined in solidarity with other human shields with Palestinians to say enough is enough to increased aggression against civilians by Israeli forces.

I met Abby who organized a peace teach in at her High School to better educate her fellow students about options for peace.

I met Mary, a nobel peace prize recipient who is holding vigil in front of the white house everyday until Bush stops the war.

We have been led to believe that speaking out against the war or against the policies of this administration is risky and perilous. That you will lose friends and if you are in business, you could be adversely affected.

During the Oscar ceremonies last month Michael Moore – director of Bowling for Columbine – said “We are now fighting a war for fictitious reasons. we are against this war, Mr. Bush. And, whenever you've got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, you're time is up."

Many thought that these comments would be the end of Michael Moore's career – well, just to the contrary, on the day after he made these comments – according to Variety - attendance at Bowling for Columbine went up by 110% - the box office gross was up by 73% - the number of theaters showing the film has increased – His book Stupid White Men shot back up to #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list – Michael Moore's web site is now getting more than 20 million hits per day – more than the White House – in the weeks following the Oscars more people have ordered Bowling for Columbine on video than Chicago – Michael has also just received a new offer to do a television series in the fall and funding is complete for his next documentary. As for the Dixie Chicks, After their lead singer mentioned that she was ashamed to be from the same state as George Bush - they continue to sell more and more CD's than ever – their concerts are sold out and their new album – the Rose has moved to up to #4 on Billboard – And then of course there is the Pope who made an appeal to stop this war and is still as popular as ever.

I have heard the peacemakers and I am inspired. I am inspired because the peace movement is reclaiming its rightful place in history. The peacemakers are tearing down the old paradigm of hatred and mistrust and fear and replacing it with understanding and hope. I have come to learn in the words of Margaret Meade to "Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Trinity College
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Contact: Dr. Ira Reed, Professor of Political Science
reedi@trinitydc.edu