Featured Activities
IRAQ: From Protest to Action
The following is a speech delivered by Larry Jacobsen at a rally held outside the Lenawee County Courthouse on March 21, 2009...
On behalf of the Lenawee Peacemakers, welcome to this program commemorating the 6th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. The 6th anniversary was, of course, two days ago – on the 19th of March. This week is a special one for the Peacemakers as we have decided to end our weekly Wednesday protests against the war and ongoing occupation in Iraq.
The Adrian Dominican sisters began demonstrating against the buildup to invasion and war in August of 2002, as the previous presidential administration, despite its insistence that it was seeking peaceful negotiations with the Iraqi government, was moving inexorably forward with its plans to invade that country.
A number of us decided to join the Dominicans on the sidewalk in their weekly demonstrations, and before long, we created the Lenawee Peacemakers with expanded goals to include the education of area citizens to understand what the war was doing to Iraq’s society and to us Americans as a people.
So for 6 1/2 years, rain or snow or shine or holiday, we’ve been out there on the sidewalk from 12:15-12:45, reminding our fellow citizens as they drove by on their lunch hours and their errands that there is a war on, an occupation on, and the latest casualty figures were displayed on our signs for all interested to see and learn.
For several years, our presence and our message were not as welcome as it would become in time. We frequently would tally visible and audible expressions of support or opposition. How many peace signs in ratio to how many gestures using half as many digits, for instance. There were days when the ratio was about 50-50. In the last several years the ratio would be around 18 to 1 in support of what we were representing.
A few months ago we were assured by one passerby that we should go home because the war was over and, by the way, he informed us, WE WON!!
We have won. The plan is to scale down the occupation of Iraq to a force less than one fifth of its peak numbers, from 150,000 soldiers and marines to around 30,000 and to, in time, decrease that number further as conditions on the ground allow.
The United States, our country, has been seeking for decades to achieve unchallengeable control over the Middle East and its vast oil and gas resources, to secure American domination of the Persian Gulf and, through its oil, the ability to enhance the prosperity of friendly nations and restrain the growth of unfriendly rivals.
What does the future hold for the United States and Iraq, and for the continued occupation of oil rich Iraq and its suffering people? How realistic is it to expect the Iraqis to forgive and forget the devastation wrought upon them over the last 6 years, the last 20 years?
We meet to commemorate the 6th anniversary of the invasion and the war and subsequent occupation with sorrow and regrets for the costs, but also with hopes for a better future for the Iraqis and all Middle Eastern peoples. We pray for the Iraqi people that they will be able to enjoy peace and stability and healing as they rebuild their devastated homeland. We pray for our servicemen and servicewomen as they return to civilian life, return to their loved ones, friends and families, and futures. May they feel the love and appreciation and care and concern of the nation they served.
At the same time, we Peacemakers invite you all to share our concerns for the Afghan people as thousands of our troops are transferred to Afghanistan to support Western plans for the occupation of that land on Iran’s eastern border and Pakistan’s northwestern border. It’s no
coincidence that the major Western military bases lie along the route of a proposed pipeline to tap the oil and natural gas reserves of Turkmenistan and the rest of the Caspian Basin of Central Asia. What is the control of these oil and gas reserves worth to us Americans in treasure and blood? That certainly is a question that will be expressed more and more often with increasing poignancy as the eyes of our nation shift focus from the Middle East to South and Central Asia!
But we are here to mark a hopeful transition in the history of the war and occupation of the Republic of Iraq. We pray for the healing of their society and ours.
The following is a speech delivered by Larry Jacobsen at a rally held outside the Lenawee County Courthouse on March 21, 2009...
On behalf of the Lenawee Peacemakers, welcome to this program commemorating the 6th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. The 6th anniversary was, of course, two days ago – on the 19th of March. This week is a special one for the Peacemakers as we have decided to end our weekly Wednesday protests against the war and ongoing occupation in Iraq.
The Adrian Dominican sisters began demonstrating against the buildup to invasion and war in August of 2002, as the previous presidential administration, despite its insistence that it was seeking peaceful negotiations with the Iraqi government, was moving inexorably forward with its plans to invade that country.
A number of us decided to join the Dominicans on the sidewalk in their weekly demonstrations, and before long, we created the Lenawee Peacemakers with expanded goals to include the education of area citizens to understand what the war was doing to Iraq’s society and to us Americans as a people.
So for 6 1/2 years, rain or snow or shine or holiday, we’ve been out there on the sidewalk from 12:15-12:45, reminding our fellow citizens as they drove by on their lunch hours and their errands that there is a war on, an occupation on, and the latest casualty figures were displayed on our signs for all interested to see and learn.
For several years, our presence and our message were not as welcome as it would become in time. We frequently would tally visible and audible expressions of support or opposition. How many peace signs in ratio to how many gestures using half as many digits, for instance. There were days when the ratio was about 50-50. In the last several years the ratio would be around 18 to 1 in support of what we were representing.
A few months ago we were assured by one passerby that we should go home because the war was over and, by the way, he informed us, WE WON!!
We have won. The plan is to scale down the occupation of Iraq to a force less than one fifth of its peak numbers, from 150,000 soldiers and marines to around 30,000 and to, in time, decrease that number further as conditions on the ground allow.
The United States, our country, has been seeking for decades to achieve unchallengeable control over the Middle East and its vast oil and gas resources, to secure American domination of the Persian Gulf and, through its oil, the ability to enhance the prosperity of friendly nations and restrain the growth of unfriendly rivals.
What does the future hold for the United States and Iraq, and for the continued occupation of oil rich Iraq and its suffering people? How realistic is it to expect the Iraqis to forgive and forget the devastation wrought upon them over the last 6 years, the last 20 years?
We meet to commemorate the 6th anniversary of the invasion and the war and subsequent occupation with sorrow and regrets for the costs, but also with hopes for a better future for the Iraqis and all Middle Eastern peoples. We pray for the Iraqi people that they will be able to enjoy peace and stability and healing as they rebuild their devastated homeland. We pray for our servicemen and servicewomen as they return to civilian life, return to their loved ones, friends and families, and futures. May they feel the love and appreciation and care and concern of the nation they served.
At the same time, we Peacemakers invite you all to share our concerns for the Afghan people as thousands of our troops are transferred to Afghanistan to support Western plans for the occupation of that land on Iran’s eastern border and Pakistan’s northwestern border. It’s no
coincidence that the major Western military bases lie along the route of a proposed pipeline to tap the oil and natural gas reserves of Turkmenistan and the rest of the Caspian Basin of Central Asia. What is the control of these oil and gas reserves worth to us Americans in treasure and blood? That certainly is a question that will be expressed more and more often with increasing poignancy as the eyes of our nation shift focus from the Middle East to South and Central Asia!
But we are here to mark a hopeful transition in the history of the war and occupation of the Republic of Iraq. We pray for the healing of their society and ours.