Voices for Creative Nonviolence- A Campaign to Challenge and to End the U.S. War in and Occupation of Iraq
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Voices for Creative Nonviolence has deep, long-standing roots in active nonviolent resistance to U.S. war-making. Begun in the summer of 2005, Voices draws upon the experiences of those who challenged the brutal economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and U.N. against the Iraqi people between 1990 and 2003. Voices participants rely on and have learned from experiences of those who have engaged in active nonviolent resistance to military might in the U.S. including draft resistance; resistance to the wars in Latin America; and resistance to nuclear weapons, such as the Plowshares resistance efforts. Voices draws upon the lessons gleaned from active participation in peace teams in Haiti, Yugoslavia, Palestine and Iraq.
We recognize that for several years now the U.S. has stood on the precipice of all out devastation-of itself and of the world. We look to history as a guide-and try to learn lessons from those who preceded us in far more dire circumstances, who somehow found the ability to form communities of resistance to oppression in Nazi Germany, in apartheid South Africa, in the Jim Crow South of the U.S. and in the super segregated cities of the North.
We ask-what is the appropriate response of a citizenry in a country which has committed unspeakable crimes against a people? Several hundred thousand Iraqis died as a consequence of economic sanctions. Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands continue to die as a consequence of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Nearly 300,000 Iraqi children under the age of 5 suffer acute malnutrition-when will they die?
The U.S. has adopted the doctrine of “pre-emptive” military action. No longer must Congress approve a war before one is begun and waged. No longer must an imminent threat-however loosely defined that may ever have been- exist before war begins. The U.S. has arrogated to itself the role of Enforcer against the rest of the world.
We are on the precipice of a full blown world war-if one is not already under way. And we ask: what must our response be? And our answer-as tentative, grappling, searching and seeking as it may be-is that it falls upon us as citizens of the country initiating this world war to utilize all nonviolent means available to turn off war -to engage the electoral and legislative process, most definitely; to protest, of course; and to march and demonstrate.
We must also move from protest to active nonviolent resistance. We must withdraw our collaboration and complicity with this system and use our bodies and lives as a means to bring the machinery of death to a grinding halt. Nonviolence, nonviolent action and nonviolent resistance cannot be a single day event-it must be a commitment we make and act upon every day of our lives.
What might this active nonviolent resistance look like? And how might we act in solidarity with the Iraqi peoples and others who find themselves in the crosshairs of U.S. war-making?
Voices is committed to strategic campaigns and experiments in truth engaging in active nonviolent resistance. Such resistance must take into account that war-making is both military and economic.
Voices seeks the following:
- an end to all forms of economic and military warfare against Iraq.
- the immediate end to the U. S. war in and occupation of Iraq, with the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. military personnel.
- an end to any military action against Iraq, whether it be by the Army, Air Force, Navy or Marines.
- Guarantees that Iraq’s oil wealth remain with the Iraqi people and not be siphoned off by multinational corporations.
- the complete and unconditional cancellation of the odious debt incurred by Saddam Hussein’s regime, as well as of the reparations charges imposed by the U.N. against Iraq following Hussein’s 1990-91 invasion and occupation of Kuwait.
- Full funding provided by the U.S. and U.K. for the reconstruction of Iraq following these past 18 years of economic and military warfare. The U.S. deliberately targeted, damaged and destroyed Iraq’s water and electrical system in 1991. The U.S. and U.K. and U.N. refused to allow Iraq any opportunity to rebuild through 14 years of brutal economic sanctions. The state of disrepair and of ill health in Iraq today is a direct consequence of the warfare waged against Iraq since 1991.
In pursuit of our objectives, Voices organized the following campaigns since 2005:
- Arabic Language Study is a key aspect of Voices work. Members have studied in Syria and Jordan. Voices believes that language fluency is a central component to forming peace teams.
- Work with Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan. Learning from and advocating for Iraqis must remain central to ending the U.S. war in and occupation of Iraq. The international community bears responsibility to provide for Iraqi, Palestinian and other refugees living in Jordan, Syria and elsewhere.
- Camp Hope: Countdown to Change (January 2009), A pre-inauguration presence in Hyde Park, Chicago.
- Witness Against War 2008, a 45 day, 450 mile walk from Chicago to St. Paul to build opposition to the continuing war.
- Seasons of Discontent: A Presidential Occupation Project (2007-08), a campaign of civil disobedience at the Iowa campaign offices of the leading Republican and Democratic candidates.
- Occupation Project (2007), a national campaign of civil disobedience seeking an end to funding of the Iraq war. Over 400 arrests occurred in the offices of over 42 Representatives and Senators (both Republicans and Democrats).
- Walk for Justice (2006), a 320 mile, 30 day walk from Springfield, Illinios to the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command.
- Lebanon (2006), Voices activists traveled to Beirut to accompany Lebanese civilians intending to bring relief supplies to civilians in southern Lebanon.
- Winter of Our Discontent (2006), a 35 day liquids only fast at the U.S. Capitol.
- 100,000 Rings (2005) an international campaign to commemorate and remember Iraqis who have died since the U.S. invasion in 2003.
- Fasts at the International Monetary Fund and at the United Nations (2005) calling for an end to economic warfare against Iraq.
Voices invites you to join with us as we engage in action to challenge U.S. economic and military warfare waged in the Middle East.
