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PeacekeepingWhat's Going On | Take Action | More Information
Justice Not War: On September 11, the deaths of thousands of civilians in the United States created feelings of sadness, anger, injustice and helplessness across our nation and the world. The victims of this horrible attack must never be forgotten, and those who are responsible for their deaths must be brought to justice. War, however, is not the best response to the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. When political leaders turned the people's feelings of anger, injustice and helplessness into a call for revenge and retribution, the cycle of violence was accelerated rather than stopped. The war on terrorism is not an effective way to make the world, or America, safer. For over 40 years Peace Action has worked for an environment where all are free from violence and war. See Peace Action's "Solutions for a Safer World" to find out what concrete steps we can take to make the world a more secure place. More Questions than Answers The US is waging a war with no clear end in sight. When President Bush announced the first US strikes against Afghanistan he stated, "Today we focus on Afghanistan, but the battle is broader." The President has suggested that the War on Terrorism may extend to any nation that aids or supports terrorism. On September 20, the President told Congress that, "Americans should not expect one battle but a lengthy campaign, unlike any we have ever seen." The ill-defined nature of this war makes it impossible to claim either victory or defeat and leaves us with more questions than answers. How long will it last? How much will it cost? What countries will be involved? What do we expect to accomplish? Lacking a clear framework, the current war threatens to become like the War on Drugs. It could last a decade, cost billions of dollars, and accomplish nothing. Afghanistan: The First in Line In, what seems to be only the first stage of this war, thousands of innocent Afghan civilians have been killed and many more are likely to die due to the bombing campaign. According to Professor Marc W. Herod, who specializes in Third World economic and social development at the University of New Hampshire, the direct civilian casualties of US bombing in Afghanistan are "climbing toward 4,000." Afghan civilian casualties exceed those of the Pentagon and World Trade Center Attacks. Before the current war, Afghanistan was already one of the poorest and most war-ravaged countries in the world. The US bombing has halted humanitarian aid efforts in the country, worsening the pre-existing conditions of famine, draught and displacement. Many farmers were unable to plant winter crops due to the bombing campaign and the spring is likely to be grim. James Jennings, President of Conscience International, a humanitarian aid organization, estimates that a million Afghans may die due to the halt in aid. In addition, the number of Afghan refugees inside the country and in Pakistan has increased by hundreds of thousands, making an already terrible situation desperate. Who's Next? All indications from President Bush and the senior members of his administration are that the war on terrorism has only just begun. The administration's statements indicate an unprecedented global military action that may not end in our lifetimes and could include as many as 60 countries. Congress has already attempted to expand the current war to Iraq, the US has positioned over 700 troops in the Philippines, and the US Navy is currently patrolling off the coast of Somalia. The current war has already intensified conflicts in the Middle East and is likely to result in more instability. Currently, India is using the US model of responding to terrorism - mobilizing tens of thousands of troops - with designs on eliminating terrorist cells within Pakistan. In this way, the US war on terrorism has brought a long-simmering conflict to a dangerous boil. Both India and Pakistan possess nuclear weapons. The War at Home As a response to September 11, Congress and the President have bestowed new powers upon intelligence and law enforcement agencies, subsequently limiting our civil liberties. The USA PATRIOT Act (signed into law by the President on October 26, 2001) spells out many of these new powers including:
The Patriot Act unnecessarily discards many of the checks and balances that previously gave courts the opportunity to ensure that these powers don't violate civil rights. The government has provided no evidence showing that pre-existing civil rights protections impeded investigations that may have prevented the attacks of September 11. The President's proposed increases for the 2003 budget represent the largest expansion in military spending in this country in 20 years. The $48 billion dollar increase alone is more than any other nation spends on its military. At a total close to $400 billion, the request pushes Pentagon spending to a height equal to the highest Cold War levels - a time when our country was preparing to fight the entire Soviet Army on the conventional and nuclear battlefields. Today we face a very different situation: the September 11 attackers used box cutters to perpetrate their attacks, not large scale armies with sophisticated weaponry. The President's Pentagon increase includes:
A recent editorial in England's The Guardian puts the President's request in perspective: "The UN reckons that Afghanistan needs $15 billion over the next decade to rebuild; in other words, Mr. Bush could buy himself a stable Afghanistan for less than a third of his defense budget [increase]." The President's increase will have a long term effect on the US budget. According to Glenn Kessler in the Washington Post, "Over the next 10 years, the administration projects that the budget will continue to eat into Social Security and Medicare payroll tax revenue every year, even if the budget overall returns to surplus. This means the goal of paying off the nation's public debt - which a year ago appeared possible in the next five years -has been indefinitely deferred. The failure to reduce the debt as planned will force the government to pay an additional $1 trillion in interest costs over the next decade." The current war could threaten the lives of thousands of more innocent civilians and greatly limit the freedom and civil rights - the foundations of our democracy-of citizens here in the US. The Pentagon increases that the President proposes will increase America's long term debt and an enormous military increase will not eradicate terrorism. The only way we can stop this open-ended and ill-defined war is to build a strong citizens movement that calls for real solutions for a safer world. You can help build this movement by taking action and becoming a member of Peace Action. Links to other organizations and sites |
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