CPJ member Bill Warmbrodt submitted a response to an individual who disagreed with CPJ's presence in Dunkirk's Memorial Day parade.  Mr. Warmbrodt's letter was published in the July 2 issue of the Observer.  The following is the content of his letter:

CALLING FOR PEACE IS  PATRIOTIC

Editor. OBSERVER:

The opinion piece “Demonstrations sent wrong message” in the SUNDAY OBSERVER (June 4) was fair-minded and thoughtful.  The writer’s  comments on the Center for Peace and Justice’s message in the Memorial Day parade contained some valid points.  His support for CPJ’s right to freedom of speech is welcome as is his acknowledgment that peace is
indeed patriotic.

As a CPJ member, however, I would strongly disagree with his implication that CPJ’s anti-war statements completely disregarded America’s heroes.

The Center’s parade banner proudly proclaimed: “Remember the Dead -- Work for Peace.”  It recalled our heroes with gratitude and sadness. Of course, we honor those who motivated by patriotism have lost their lives in all our country’s wars – some of which were justified and others questionable.  Successful anti-war efforts can keep even more of
our military from needlessly dying in mistaken wars.

The writer cites our Civil War and World War II, but does he remember Vietnam? CPJ remembers and the 58,000 Americans who died in a war that Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara now admits the Johnson administration never understood and which in the end was a colossal political and military disaster. If we can believe the polls, a growing majority of Americans agree that the War in Iraq also is needlessly taking the lives of our troops. Instead of just looking back and honoring our dead, which with the writer CPJ would do, CPJ would also look forward hoping by its statement to prevent more of our military sons and daughters being needlessly killed.

Like the writer some in CPJ agree that there are just wars.  Not all CPJ members are pacifists opposed to all war. A number of veterans like me who fought in America’s wars belong to and marched with the Center.  Some members idealistically would see the end of all war as the ideal for humanity.  They believe with Martin Luther King that  "wars are
poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows." Most members would see any war as the last option. The Center for Peace and Justice allows great freedom of expression within its own ranks.

Local citizens should be proud of our veteran groups and their leadership, which is broad minded enough to allow other voices in its Memorial Day parade.  Such an enlightened policy prevents the parade itself from becoming an implicit endorsement of the present
administration’s inept handling and inadequate protection of our sons and daughters in the military.

As for CPJ politicalization of the parade, the Bush administration has used the Memorial Day sacredness and solemnity for its own political purposes.

I’d refer readers to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s Memorial Day speech this year at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington Cemetery. In an obvious reference to the war in Iraq, Rumsfeld said that this country has again been called to the "great task of freedom's defense." He said the nation’s renewed strength comes from those being remembered on this day. "In their memory, and in tribute to what they died for and what they lived for, let us renew our resolve, let us be proud that America has again answered history's high call." If that isn’t political what is?

I am a WW II vet and support peaceful dissent to any government policy.

You have said that Jesus Christ is your favorite philosopher and you've frequently professed your Christian faith.

As you are a Christian, then please ask yourself: Who would Jesus  bomb? Who would Jesus kill? Who would Jesus torture? Would Jesus say  that killing anyone is the way to build peace? Would Jesus try to  exert an unchallenged military dominance over the whole planet (as  outlined in your National Security Strategy in 2002)?

Since October 2001, U.S. bombing and invasions have targeted and destroyed vital civilian infrastructure, homes, and human lives in Baghdad, Fallujah, and Kabul, piling misery on loss, adding to human suffering.

Killing and bombing to stop terrorism only brings more hate, more terrorists, and ceaselessly escalating violence. Hunting down every terrorist is mathematically impossible when our violent tactics inflict so much suffering and create more terrorists every day. Your stated goal to win the war on terror and lay the foundation for a lasting peace can never be achieved with an endless blood sacrifice.

Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, and Jewish traditions universally teach that the path toward peace is forgiveness, humility, and compassionate actions, not physical brutality. At the sermon on the mount, Jesus commanded his followers to "love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you" (Matthew 5:44) and the 6th commandment of Mosaic law unequivocally states, "thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13).

To forge a lasting peace built on compassion and humility, our nation can demonstrate that it is prepared to meet the great responsibility that accompanies great wealth and power, and seek a very different course than its present one.

Mr. President, you have the power to declare a withdrawal of U.S. military forces from sovereign nations, to honor and enforce our commitment to international conventions on human rights and nuclear disarmament treaties, to earnestly support the United Nations and its peacekeeping missions, and to act rapidly to address the emerging challenges of energy production and global climate change.

To honor all of those killed or wounded in the name of freedom, our government must live up to its obligations under the rule of law. We must protect all of our Constitutional rights. We must provide for all the wounded returning soldiers who have given so much for their 
country. We must honor our dead. We must honor the tens of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans killed by our actions, and whose violent ends were often noted merely as uncounted "collateral damage", but whose human lives were no less precious than any American's.

Of course, this is not an easy choice to make. As you have noted on several occasions, Mr. President, your job would be a lot easier if this were a dictatorship, but our republic is not a dictatorship and terrorism can not be stopped with force or the blood of adversaries  and innocents.

By choosing humility and a path toward peaceful cooperation, not violent domination, our nation can cease to provide the fuel for hatred and terrorism, inspire the noblest aspirations of our long-time allies, and encourage the voices of moderation and democratic freedom in every nation. By building bridges rather than bombing them, this nation can lead by example, illuminating the way toward a lasting peace for the world.

Since 1987, Tom Potts, friend of CPJ member Bill Stock, has provided free dental care to the poor residents of Chiapas, Mexico.  A message from Bill describing the work that Dr. Potts has done and the conditions under which the Chiapan citizens live follows.  

If you would like to make a donation to this cause, please send a check (with "for Dental Project" written on the front of the check) to:

Abraham Lincoln once said, “If you can’t hit up your family and friends for some money once in awhile, what good are they?"  (I don’t know if he really said that, but he might have.)  So here I am hitting on you for a worthy cause.

A little background: My friend Dr. Tom Potts has labored at least one or two months of every year, for almost twenty years, providing free dental care to some of the “poorest of the poor”  in Mexico’s state of Chiapas —the “Mississippi of Mexico" - as Tom describes it. This is Zapatista land, recently famous for its uprising of indigenous people in the mid-nineties. The people he labors for are the Tzotziles, one of several different Indian tribes - all descendants of the Mayan - the ancients who gave us all those cool jungle ruins throughout the Yucatan peninsula. Their glory days are over, however. They now occupy remote highlands and scratch out a meager living on the poorest soils in Mexico. They are generally discriminated against by other Mexicans and the ruling political establishment. They have a long history of periodically exploding in violent rage, when they can’t take the crap of the ruling elites any more - hence the most recent Zapatista rebellion in 1994.

In the village of Chenalho there are now Indian owned businesses in town where before the uprising they were only Mexican establishments. Tom says that up into the 1960’s the Indians were not even allowed to walk on the sidewalks!  So things are improving - if ever so slowly. Tom has struggled a long time to get some continuity in dental care and that may be a reality soon. Up until now, if Tom isn’t in town the only dental care is extractions.

In 2004, I had the opportunity to help Tom expand the clinic and install some much needed equipment—an X-ray machine, a real dental chair with a light, countertops and sinks etc. Up until this time, the patients sat in a regular chair and another patient had to hold a flash light while Tom worked. By third-world standards it’s now almost “state-of-the-art”!  So folks, please help out. Your tax-deductible donation will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Bill

Information and an opportunity to send a message to President Bush about the genocide in Sudan can be found at http://www.savedarfur.org/home.