Writings by Mike Ferner

Clinton Campaign Office Re-Occupied by Peace Activists on Day of Iowa Voting

Mike Ferner — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:26:45 -0600

Short Information Teaser

Mike Ferner write of the occupation of Clinton's campaign office

Excerpt

Action caps four days of Iowa primary protests against war in Iraq

January 3, 2008

Des Moines – Hours before voting begins in the nation’s first presidential poll, peace activists placed the Iraq war front and center again this afternoon, when, for the second time since campaigning began last fall, they occupied the Iowa headquarters of Senator Hillary Clinton.

On this, the fourth day of nonviolent “direct actions” during caucus campaigning, four members of a campaign called “Seasons Of Discontent: A Presidential Occupation Project” (SODaPOP) went to Clinton’s office, saying they still had not gotten a response to a letter delivered to the Senator’s campaign in October, demanding she publicly oppose any more spending for the war or occupation, and foreswear an attack on Iran.

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Three Hillary Clinton campaign staff guard the entrance to her Des Moines, Iowa headquarters as peace activists conduct a sit-in to protest the candidate’s support for the war in Iraq. (Photo: Mauro Heck )

Action caps four days of Iowa primary protests against war in Iraq

January 3, 2008

Des Moines – Hours before voting begins in the nation’s first presidential poll, peace activists placed the Iraq war front and center again this afternoon as they occupied the Iowa headquarters of Senator Hillary Clinton for the second time since campaigning began last fall.

Over a dozen members of a campaign called “Seasons Of Discontent: A Presidential Occupation Project” (SODaPOP) went to Clinton’s office, saying they still had not gotten a response to a letter delivered in October demanding she publicly oppose any more spending for the war or occupation, and foreswear an attack on Iran.

But as the peace activists approached Clinton’s East Second Street office, staff members locked the main door and refused admittance. At a locked side door, a Clinton staff person was admitted but could not close the door before Jeff Leys, co-director of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, sat down in the doorway.

Leys, speaking on the phone as he remained in the doorway, said about another 15 peace activists were standing outside the entrance helping block it, several Clinton staffers were blocking the doorway into the office, and that no one was going in or out.

Asked why the campaign targeted Senator Clinton’s Iowa headquarters again, Leys said “because she is the most hawkish of any of the leading candidates on foreign policy and she refuses to commit to ending the war in Iraq.”

He said that they are also concerned with Senator Clinton’s connection to the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), at which she gave a keynote address for the center’s launch in June 2007. One of its initial reports released that day, “Phased Transition,” (PDF) concluded that “…as a rough estimate 25,000 to 40,000 American troops might remain in Iraq” until as late as 2012.

“While the people of Iowa are exercising their legal right to go to the caucuses to choose their presidential nominees, it is appropriate that we exercise our extra-legal rights of nonviolent protest to bring this war to an end,” Leys concluded.

Extra-legal or not, Clinton’s office was reluctant to file a complaint that would trigger arrests, so police withdrew after being on the scene about an hour. Protesters continued their vigil until about 5 pm, by which time nearly all the Clinton staff had left.

Caucus voting was scheduled to begin at 7pm Iowa time and a “Caucus Night Celebration with Hillary” was scheduled at a downtown Des Moines hotel later in the evening.

Clinton’s Des Moines press office was contacted for a statement but had no comment.

Ferner is an independent journalist from Ohio - www.mikeferner.org

VCNV Author

Mike Ferner

Obama and Romney Iowa Campaign Offices Occupied by Peace Activists

Mike Ferner — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 21:38:59 -0600

Short Information Teaser

Mike Ferner writes of 12 arrests at Iowa campaign headquarters

Excerpt

Third day of nonviolent resistance to Iraq occupation during Iowa presidential primary

January 2, 2008

Des Moines – Opponents of the occupation of Iraq today occupied the Iowa campaign headquarters of presidential candidates U.S. Senator Barak Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, waiting for a response to a letter requesting them to oppose any more spending for the war or occupation and foreswear an attack on Iran.

Eight people were arrested at Obama’s Iowa campaign headquarters and four at Romney’s, in this, the third day of such nonviolent “direct actions” organized by “Seasons Of Discontent: A Presidential Occupation Project” (SODAPOP) since the presidential primary season began in Iowa late last year.

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Third day of nonviolent resistance to Iraq occupation during Iowa presidential primary

January 2, 2008

Explaining why Senator Obama’s office was targeted, Voices for Creative Nonviolence co-director, Dan Pearson, pointed to the Illinois Senator’s consistent support for war funding until a May, 2007 supplemental funding vote “which everyone knew was going to fail anyway. Even his proposed Iraq De-Escalation Act of 2007 wasn’t really anti-war. It allows for thousands of U.S. troops to stay in Iraq and others to be deployed to Afghanistan and other countries in the region when the only place they belong is back here.”

Pearson said the SODAPOP campaign has not yet received a response to a letter delivered to Obama last October, asking him to pledge to completely withdraw from Iraq within 100 days of assuming office; halt all military actions against Iraq and Iran; fund the rebuilding of Iraq as well as health, education and infrastructure needs in the U.S.; and provide “…the highest quality health care, education and jobs training benefits for veterans of our country’s Armed Services.”

“Today we will visit his Iowa headquarters and ask him to publicly pledge to fulfill those demands and become a true antiwar candidate,” Pearson concluded.

Another SODAPOP participant, Brian Terrell, Director of the Catholic Peace Ministry in Des Moines, said that as of yesterday he was ambivalent about which candidate’s office to occupy, “but now I see this statement from (Ohio Congressman Dennis) Kucinich which I think is really irresponsible, asking his supporters to make Barak Obama their second choice…that they both stand for change. But what kind of change is he talking about? Leaving 40-60,000 troops in Iraq? Leaving on the table the bombing of Iran? Asking Iowans to support increased military spending? I hope our action here counters the message Kucinich is putting out (about Obama).”

Spokesperson Mona Shaw reported that at Obama’s office Kathy Kelly, 55, Chicago; Dicki Andrews, 63, Grand Rapids, Michigan; Diane Haugesag, 48, Minneapolis; David Hovee, 37 and Tom Roddy, 76 of Evanston, Illinois; Dan Pearson, 26, Chicago; Brian Terrell, 50, Maloy, Iowa and John Tuzcu, 23, Des Moines were arrested and charged with trespassing. She also said that arrested at Romney’s headquarters and charged with trespassing were Chris Gaunt, 51, a farmer from Grinnell, Iowa; Ed Bloomer, 63, Des Moines; Janice Sevre-Duszynska 57, Nicholasville, Kentucky; and Suzanne Sheridan, 31, Chicago.

Asked what kind of welcome the demonstrators received at each office, independent photographer Mauro Heck said, “The Romney people were friendlier than at Obama’s actually. They received the demonstrators about as warmly as one could expect, but at Obama’s office they blocked the door at first.”

Independent journalist, Michael Gillespie reported that while he was covering the occupations he saw only one U.S. news outlet, a Des Moines TV station. “German, British, Italian and Japanese press were there, but no others from the U.S.”

The Romney and Obama Iowa headquarters were each contacted for comment, but campaign spokespersons were unavailable.

Two days ago, three SODAPOP organizers occupied and were arrested at former governor Mike Huckabee’s Des Moines office, and in November a total of 18 were arrested at the Iowa campaign headquarters of Senator Hillary Clinton and former mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Ferner is an independent journalist from Ohio - www.mikeferner.org.

VCNV Author

Mike Ferner

Peace Activists Occupy Huckabee’s Iowa Campaign Office

Mike Ferner — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:00:50 -0600

Short Information Teaser

3 arrested at Mike Huckabee’s campaign headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa

Excerpt

For more information and links to other articles about the December 31 SODaPOP action see the Des Moines Catholic Worker page

Protesters ask former Baptist minister, “Who Would Jesus Bomb?”

December 31, 2007

Des Moines – With 40 percent of Iowa’s Republican caucus voters expected to come from the ranks of conservative Christians, peace activists occupied Mike Huckabee’s campaign headquarters in Iowa’s capital city today with signs asking the former Baptist minister, “Who Would Jesus Bomb?”

Eight members of the Iowa Occupation Project and Voices for Creative Nonviolence arrived at Huckabee’s Locust St. campaign office early Monday afternoon, waiting for the former Arkansas governor’s reply to a letter delivered two months ago that sought his pledge to completely withdraw from Iraq within 100 days of assuming office; halt all military actions against Iraq and Iran; fund the rebuilding of Iraq as well as health, education and infrastructure needs in the U.S.; and “…the highest quality health care, education and jobs training benefits for veterans of our country’s Armed Services.”

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(left to right) Kathy Kelly, Mona Shaw, and Robert Braam were arrested in Huckabee’s Des Moines Campaign Headquarters.

Protesters ask former Baptist minister, “Who Would Jesus Bomb?”

December 31, 2007

Brian Terrell, director of the Catholic Peace Ministry in Des Moines, said approximately 35 reporters, including a number of international journalists, were at Huckabee’s office during the protest.

Terrell said in addition to the “Who Would Jesus Bomb?” banner, the eight protesters held signs that read, “End Iraq War” and “No War with Iran,” sang the refrain from “Auld Lang Syne,” chanted ‘Who Would Jesus Bomb?’ and then read names of Iraqis and U.S. soldiers killed in the war.

Sgt. Vincent Valdez of the Des Moines Police Department said officers responded to an early afternoon complaint from the Huckabee Campaign office and arrested Robert Braam, Mona Shaw and Kathy Kelly, on charges of trespassing. He said the three were among a group “holding signs, singing and reading aloud, basically making a disturbance.” Valdez said the officers had no trouble making the arrests and the three were taken to the Polk County jail.

In a news release issued earlier by the Des Moines Catholic Worker, Kelly, co-director of VCNV, was quoted as saying, “We’re very respectful of the Iowa caucus process and the long history behind it but we feel quite strongly that the issues of this war must be inserted into the process of narrowing down the candidates for the presidential election.”

Huckabee spokesperson, Eric Woolson, could not be reached for comment after several attempts.

For more information and links to other articles about the December 31 SODaPOP action see the Des Moines Catholic Worker page

VCNV Author

Mike Ferner

Charges Dismissed in Illinois Antiwar Trial

voices — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:27:45 -0500

Short Information Teaser

Charges against Jeff Leys dismissed

Excerpt

October 2, 2007

WAUKEGAN —A judge in the 19th Circuit Court of Illinois today dismissed trespassing charges against an antiwar activist stemming from a civil disobedience demonstration last year at the nation’s command center for processing military recruits.

Before jurors were even picked in the trial of Jeff Leys, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, the Illinois State Attorney in the case moved for dismissal of the charge. Referring to yesterday’s bench trial before Judge Patrick Lawler which resulted in the acquittal of a reporter arrested at the July, 2006 demonstration with Leys, as well as the absence of the police officer who was the state’s key witness yesterday and presumably would have been today, the prosecutor moved the charge be dismissed. Judge Lawler granted the motion and Leys, prepared to represent himself “pro se,” walked out moments later.

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October 2, 2007

On July 5, 2006, at the end of a month-long, 320-mile walk from the Illinois capital of Springfield, to the Military Entrance Processing Command (MEPCOM) at the Great Lakes Naval Base, Leys and two other protesters, Ceylon Mooney and Diane Hughes, walked onto the facility’s parking lot, knelt down and began reading a list of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians killed in the war. The three were taken into custody by military security officers and charged with trespass. Several court-ordered postponements in the case resulted in Leys’ trial being delayed until today.

Asked why he purposely got arrested last year, Leys said “We are living in a country that has initiated a world war and we need to use every means of non-violent opposition to end it.”

The 43 year-old former union organizer planned to represent himself, saying that “Ending the war is about getting ordinary people involved and we ought not have to rely on what experts have to say.”

Leys said his defense would have included a closing argument that included references to the legal theory of jury nullification, urging jurors to use the trial as an opportunity to oppose the war. “I would have asked the jury to find me guilty if they supported the war and to find me not guilty and if they opposed the war, regardless of the legal questions involved.”

Additionally, Leys said that if found guilty he was planning on informing the judge that he would not pay a fine and would have to be sent to jail. Echoing the words of Gandhi, Leys said, “If the judge agrees with the war he should give me the maximum sentence. If he opposes the war he should not only give me no sentence, but also follow the lead of a group of German judges who, in 1983, blockaded a military base about to deploy U.S. nuclear missiles.”

Earlier this year, Voices for Creative Nonviolence coordinated the Occupation Project which organized sit-downs in 39 local congressional offices by some 320 people around the country. Their next campaign is dubbed “Seasons of Discontent: A Presidential Occupation Project” (SODaPOP), which will kick off November 7 in Iowa, in advance of the presidential caucuses in that state.

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Mike Ferner is a freelance reporter from Ohio. www.mikeferner.org

VCNV Author

Mike Ferner

Collateral Genocide

voices — Fri, 11 May 2007 12:29:08 -0500

Short Information Teaser

By Mike Ferner

Excerpt

May 10, 2007

Two elements are necessary to commit the crime of genocide: 1) the mental element, meaning intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, and 2) the physical element, which includes any of the following: killing or causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births; or forcibly transferring children to another group.

Considering that such clear language comes from a UN treaty which is legally binding on our country, things could start getting a little worrisome for Uncle Sam – especially when you realize that since our government began waging economic and military warfare on Iraq we’ve killed well over one million people, fast approaching two.

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May 10, 2007

This summer will be one year since researchers from Johns Hopkins University collected data for a study which concluded 655,000 additional deaths were caused by the military war, and things have only gotten worse. Then consider that the economic war killed an additional 500,000 Iraqi kids under the age of five during only the first seven years of sanctions which were in force for a dozen years, according to just one 1999 U.N. report.

Based on the Johns Hopkins estimate of Iraqis killed in the war, one could conservatively estimate that another 2.6 million people have been wounded. The U.N. estimates that between 1.5 million and 2 million Iraqis are now “internally displaced” by the fighting and roughly the same number have fled their country, including disproportionate numbers of doctors and other professionals.

If you are sitting down and possess a healthy imagination, try conjuring up similar conditions here in our land.

Start with the fact that few people buy bottled water and what comes out of the tap is guaranteed to at least make you sick if not kill you
Three times as many of our fellow citizens are out of work as during the Great Depression
On a good day we have three or four hours of electricity to preserve food or cool the 110-degree heat
No proper hospitals or rehab clinics exist to help the wounded become productive members of society
Roads are a mess
Reports of birth defects from exposure to depleted uranium have begun surfacing around the country.

Reflect for a minute on the grief you’ve felt from a single loved one’s death. Then open your heart to the reality of life if we suffered casualties comparable to those endured by the people of Iraq.

In the former cities of Atlanta, Denver, Boston, Seattle, Milwaukee, Fort Worth, Baltimore, San Francisco, Dallas and Philadelphia every single person is dead.
In Vermont, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, Kansas, Mississippi, Iowa, Oregon, South Carolina and Colorado every single person is wounded.
The entire populations of Ohio and New Jersey are homeless, surviving with friends, relatives or under bridges as they can.
The entire populations of Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky have fled to Canada or Mexico.
Over the past three years, one in four U.S. doctors has left the country.
Last year alone 3,000 doctors were kidnapped and 800 killed.

In short, nobody “out there” is coming to save us. We are in hell.

Of course our government didn’t intend to commit genocide in Iraq, it just sort of happened. The Iraqis kept getting in the way while we were trying to complete the mission. Mistakes were made as we were building democracy, but surely no genocide was intended. Indeed, we are the international deciders of what is and what isn’t genocide, and we know full well that intent is a requirement.

It was only “collateral genocide” and lord knows we did our very best to avoid it. We are, after all, Good Americans.

Mike Ferner, a freelance writer in Ohio, tries not to dwell on these thoughts all the time. Write him at www.mikeferner.org.

VCNV Author

Mike Ferner

Occupation of Rep. Marcy Kaptur's Toledo office:

voices — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 11:02:42 -0600

Project

The Occupation Project

Short Information Teaser

Mike Ferner writes of the nearly 15 hour occupation

Excerpt

Feb 22 2007

At 12:10 a.m. this morning, Toledo police arrived at Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s office and told 10 members of the NW Ohio Peace Coalition who had been there nearly 15 hours, that they had to leave the building. 4 members of NWOPC: Jeff Klein, Steve Miller, Larry Coleman, and Trudy Bond replied they were prepared to be arrested and the other 6 of us (we started with 17 earlier) then left. The arresting officer said they were going to be charged with criminal trespass, taken to the jail and booked where they would “likely” be released on o.r. sometime later this morning.

Terry Lodge, attorney for the four, said they were released in the early morning hours per a standing Federal Court order on overcrowded conditions in the Lucas County Jail. He will schedule a pretrial appearance for the activists in the near future.

Voices Author

Mike Ferner

Body

Feb 22 2007

During our stay in Kaptur’s office as part of the Occupation Project, we talked informally with several of the staff and met for about 30 minutes with Steve Katich, chief of staff. He explained the purpose of Marcy’s trip to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq which she is currently on, as being primarily to thank the troops, and get a better understanding of the needs of the military as the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, on which she is second most senior to Rep. Murtha, starts to shape the Bush administration’s $93,000,000,000 request into specific legislation.

We made our position clear to him that Marcy should vote the whole request down; that there is sufficient money from previous supplemental spending bills and in the general Dept. of Defense budget to provide for the needs of the troops currently in Iraq and bring them home. We reiterated our position that we wanted Marcy to sign a pledge to that effect or we would not leave the office voluntarily.

He said several times that we and Marcy were on the same side of the issue of the Iraq war, and cited her many statements against the war, her membership in the House “Out of Iraq” caucus, and her vote against the use of force just prior to the U.S. invasion in 2003. He added that Marcy has consistently called for diplomatic means to be used as the way to end the conflict.

We responded that all those points were admirable, but that despite her initial vote against the war and her subsequent statements of concern, she has voted for 6 out of 7 bills to fund the conflict.

Nancy Roffey told Katich that the War Powers Act should be used to end the fighting.

Katich made it clear he really didn’t want to have any of us arrested, and kept the office open with three staff people beyond the usual closing time of 5:30 pm until 11 pm, hoping we would leave before the building management closed the whole facility at 11. Kaptur’s staff was hospitable and supportive throughout our stay.

Throughout the day we took turns reading the name, rank, and home state of each of the 3,184 U.S. troops killed in Iraq, plus several hundred names and ages of the nearly 1,000,000 Iraqis killed in the war.

Mary Anthony, a member of Military Families Speak Out with a son on his second deployment to the Middle East, worked the phone diligently during the day to update local news outlets.

Commenting on Kaptur’s stance and Katich’s characterization that she “is on your side,” Lodge later said, “How can she be on a side when she’s sitting on the fence? She’s so much like junk food: tasty, empty calories signifying nothing and unhealthy to boot.”

A vote is expected on this latest “supplemental” spending request for the war, around March 14.

Check with the Occupation Project for ways you can join people around the nation pressuring their elected officials to cut the money and stop the war.

Mike Ferner - www.mikeferner.org

War Opponents Occupy Congressional Offices

voices — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 10:43:21 -0600

Project

The Occupation Project

Short Information Teaser

Mike Ferner update on the launch of the Occupation Project

Excerpt

February 6, 2007

From Alaska to Washington, D.C. yesterday, peace activists escalated their tactics and occupied Congressional offices, demanding elected officials vote against George Bush’s request of $93,000,000,000 to extend the war.

The Occupation Project, organized by Voices for Creative Nonviolence (VCNV), kicked off at noon, Eastern Time when four people were arrested holding a funeral service in the Chicago office of Democratic U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and four more people were arrested in the Chicago office of U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), reading names of Iraqis and U.S. soldiers.

Voices Author

Mike Ferner

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February 6, 2007

At the same hour, 10 people sat down and were arrested in the Washington, D.C. office of Senator John McCain (R-AZ), including Franciscan priest Jerry Zawada, and Kathy Kelly, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and co-director of VCNV. McCain’s office in Phoenix was also occupied.

On the opening day of the six-week project, a total of eight local congressional offices were occupied across the country, including the San Francisco offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), and the Portland office of Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR). Members of Veterans For Peace, one of the 18 organizations endorsing the campaign, participated in an action at a congressional office in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Dan Pearson, a spokesperson for the Occupation Project, explained the campaign’s goal is to defeat the $93 billion “emergency supplemental” war funding bill that the Bush administration forwarded to Congress yesterday.

Pearson and three others were removed from Obama’s Chicago office yesterday after the office manager told them they could stay until closing time if they stopped reading names of U.S. soldiers and Iraqis. Pearson responded that “We didn’t come here to sit down and be quiet. We are responding to an emergency. If an apartment were on fire across the street I would bang on every door and interrupt whatever the neighbors were doing and I wouldn’t feel bad about it.”

Today, organizers are targeting congressional offices in Minneapolis-St. Paul, St. Louis, and Seattle. Plans for other occupations are underway in over 20 states as a way to pressure elected officials to “defund” the Iraq war.

The Occupation Project got a boost yesterday when United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), the coalition that brought some 300,000 protesters to Washington on January 27, endorsed it and sent an email letter to its 1400 member organizations around the nation, urging their participation.

Ferner is a freelance writer from Ohio. www.mikeferner.org

TO THE CHOIR: If they vote for war, occupy 'em!

voices — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 20:05:22 -0600

Project

The Occupation Project

Short Information Teaser

Mike Ferner asks us to consider occupying local congressional offices to stop funding the war

Excerpt

December 13, 2006

Mike Ferner is a National Board member with Veterans For Peace

After nearly four years of war I’d wager that a few million Americans have held a candle at a vigil, carried a sign at a rally, passed out a flyer, forwarded an email to friends, or gone to a demonstration in a distant city. If you, Dear Reader, are one of these stout souls, this letter is to you.

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December 13, 2006

Mike Ferner is a National Board member with Veterans For Peace

But first, may I ask a favor? For the rest of this letter please forget that at least once during these years of protest you no doubt mourned that “only the choir” participated. The choir – people who actually do something for peace – is precisely who I’m writing to.

No doubt it’s frustrating that, except for a few grand occasions, “only the choir” shows up. But consider this: of the millions of women in the U.S. at the time, relatively few became active suffragists with the staying power to eventually get votes for women. Of the millions of workers suffering from the Great Depression, relatively few answered the call to sit down in the auto factories to win recognition for unions. Of the millions of blacks bearing the weight of segregation, relatively few sat down at lunch counters.

In their day they were “the choir.” When they were the only ones who showed up for vigils and rallies, they no doubt bemoaned that “only the choir” had come again. They came to action after action, moving things forward imperceptibly each time. But when conditions were right, they acted one more time. And then they made history.

Several indicators confirm that conditions are right again.

The November elections clearly proved the public wants to end the war. That sentiment will surely grow in the months ahead.
This spring, likely in March, Congress will vote whether to continue the war with another $160,000,000,000 “supplemental appropriation.”
This February, the peace movement’s choir, of which you are one, will up the ante of protest. Voices for Creative Nonviolence, joined by Veterans For Peace, have initiated the “Occupation Project” to occupy the hometown offices of Representatives and Senators who have voted money for the war.
If we miss this opportunity to greatly hasten peace, the war will still eventually end. “Eventually,” however, will be measured in additional thousands of lives lost, even more thousands suffering horrific injuries, and the world becoming more dangerous.
All this clearly adds up to a historic opportunity.

You have already done something for peace. Now will you consider taking a giant step that will mean so much more?

Last week I spoke in Marietta, Ohio to 35 people, and announced the Occupation Project. I asked who among them would consider occupying their local congressional offices. Without a moment’s hesitation, six hands went up. You could hear the choir start to harmonize!

We talked about practical concerns: having to work, how much will it cost, what will the charge be? We talked about taking a vacation day and the modest fines involved for a misdemeanor – all compared to the enormous suffering Iraqis and soldiers now endure in this war.

We could have talked about how much less frightening this is compared to the suffragists who were arrested, manhandled, and force-fed while they served long jail terms; how unionists struck in the face of company goon squads; how civil rights activists tolerated untold abuses from screaming racists – and still they carried on. They persevered. They stepped into the gap when they were needed most. They won justice and made history.

The Democratic Party now controls Congress because the grassroots peace movement turned public opinion against the Bush administration’s war. These new elected officials must see that the time to end this war is now.

Many incumbents, including my own Congressperson, talk for peace – even join the “Out of Iraq” Congressional Caucus – but vote for war. They must now be told in no uncertain terms the jig is up. We will no longer tolerate platitudes for peace and votes for blood. This is where we draw the line. They either vote to end the occupation of Iraq or they will be occupied.

Below are links to roll calls for votes that Rep. Dennis Kucinich listed as the record of war funding. Check and see how your elected officials voted. A very few voted against each appropriation, and a call to their office will confirm if they will continue voting against the war. Several others have voted against one or two appropriations but in favor of the rest. These members, and those who consistently vote money for this war, are our targets.

We will go to their offices with a pledge for them to sign, confirming they will not vote for any more death and suffering in this war. If they do not sign, they will be occupied. A considerably more benign occupation than they are imposing, but uncomfortable for them nonetheless.

See how your Representatives and Senators have voted. Talk with other members of the choir where you live. Get ready to sing a glorious song to end this war!

Ferner is a freelance writer from Ohio and author of “Inside the Red Zone: A Veteran For Peace Reports from Iraq”

Editors Note: For a spreadsheet overview of the information provided in the links below see The Occupations Project’s House Of Representative Voting Records: Iraq War Resolution & Iraq War Funding

Roll Calls for Key Congressional Votes on Iraq War:

House Joint Resolution 114 Authorizing Use of Military Force Against Iraq
Final House Vote October 10, 2002: 296-133
Final Senate Vote October 10, 2002: 77-23

House Joint Resolution 2
Final House Vote Feb. 13, 2003: 338-83
Final Senate Vote: Feb. 13, 2003: 76-20

HR 1559
Final House and Senate Vote April 12, 2003: (both voice votes)

HR 3289
Final House Vote October 31, 2003: 298-121
Final Senate Vote November 3, 2003: voice vote

HR 4613
Final House Vote July 22, 2004: 410-12
Final Senate Vote July 22, 2004: 96-0

HR 1268
Final House Vote May 5, 2005: 368-58
Final Senate Vote May 10, 2005: 100-0

HR 2863
Final House Vote December 19, 2005: 308-106
Final Senate Vote December 21, 2005: 93-0

HR 4939
Final House Vote June 13, 2006: 351-67
Final Senate Vote June 15, 2006: 98-1

HR 5631
Final House Vote September 26, 2006: 394-22
Final Senate Vote September 29, 2006: 100-0