Peace Activists Bring Their Concerns About an Iraq War to our Senators
The Washington-based organization, MoveOn, called together peace activists
from around the country to meet with their senators on August 28. In Maine,
one group met in Portland (and Bangor, see below) with Sen. Collins' aide. Following is a report by Charlotte Davenhill about the Augusta meeting with Senator Snowe's aide.
About 30 of us sat down in Augusta with Senator Snowe's representative, John
"Jay" Cummings, who said that Senator Snowe believes that the "advise and
consent" role of the U.S. Senate is "necessary" and that the administration must come before Congress with a plan before engaging the U.S. in a military conflict.
All of us expressed a desire to halt the race toward war with Iraq, some
based on experiences in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm, others out
of concern for the children, our own and those of all countries " those who
would be killed or harmed directly and all people on the planet who would
suffer from the environmental degradation that always occurs and remains
after the war is over.
We shared our concern that the administration has reasons other than those
stated for wanting to depose Iraq's head of state, but time was mostly given
to placing this moment in the context of history. We reminded Senator Snowe
of the political climate in the U.S. after WWII when the hawks in Washington
tried hard to get us to invade our former ally, the USSR, before it could
have a chance to build a nuclear bomb. It did not happen then, we said, and
it must not happen now.
In another historical parallel, several speakers urged Senator Snowe to take
the example of Margaret Chase Smith and stand up to the mass hysteria about
Iraq as Senator Smith did to the mass hysteria about communism.
It was impossible not to be moved by the words spoken and left unspoken and
I am hopeful that Senator Snowe will get the message. I think we all felt we
were being listened to and that Mr. Cummings was sincere in telling us that
the Senator needs and values information like ours. We presented a bound
copy of the MoveOn petition opposing an invasion of Iraq, with about 1,300
Maine signatures. Across the country, MoveOn collected some 118,597
signatures. I agree with those who believe that the internet may be the
salvation of democracy if it can be used in combination with face-to-face,
honest and respectful communication such as we experienced. As I heard
others saying, "this is only the beginning."
I'm ready to do this again.
Bangor Visits to Senators Encouraging
Thanks to all those who took part in the visits to the offices of Senators
Collins and Snowe on Wednesday in Bangor. A special thanks to Karen Saum,
who initiated the Bangor visits in conjunction with the MoveOn.org visits in
Augusta and Portland.
In Bangor, about 40 people of all ages from several communities carried
signs and raised important concerns with the staff of both Senators. We had
good coverage on both Channel 2 and Channel 5 for the Bangor event, with
reporters from both stations waiting patiently as we went from one office to
the other. Channel 7 had an excellent report on the Augusta meeting.
Ilze Petersens
Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine
Back to Peace Talk Index, Autumn, 2002