Dear Friends of a world free of nuclear weapons,
It has been nearly three-quarters of a century since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yet the nuclear armed nations continue to threaten humanity with extinction, and according to a number of experts we are in the midst of a new, and more dangerous, nuclear arms race. Nuclear weapons, of course, do not exist in a vacuum; and we will never abolish them without confronting, and bringing to heel, the fundamental militarism that puts them front and center in our nation’s (and other nations’) foreign policy and promotes countless wars – what Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence calls the “Permanent Warfare State.”
And now we face the very real probability of a war on Iran, which would be a disaster in the Middle East and beyond. There are so many possible scenarios and yet, in the end, as we have seen in every other war, it will not be President Trump, his advisors, the members of the US Congress, the heads of the weapons-making corporations, or even the people working in those companies developing and building the weapons, who will suffer the effects of war. It will be the soldiers, and the countless innocent civilians who will suffer all because of the whims of a small number of influential people.
The U.S. continues to ratchet up tensions and create the conditions for war. Just yesterday the U.S. warned that all commercial aircraft flying over the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman need to be aware of “heightened military activities and increased political tension.” This is particularly ironic, when it was the United States that shot down an Iranian airliner in 1988, killing all 290 people on board. Iran Air Flight 655, a scheduled passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai, was shot down on July 3,1988 by a surface-to-air missile fired from USS Vincennes. The jet was hit while flying over Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, along the flight’s usual route, shortly after departing Bandar Abbas International Airport. (source: Wickipedia)
Ground Zero Center honored the true intention of Mothers Day (for Peace) over the Mothers Day weekend. Kathy Kelly spoke to the group; her talk was titled, “Deploying Love in a Permanent Warfare State.” When asked (by interviewer Martha Baskin) what she meant by “deploying love,” Kelly replied:
“In a permanent warfare state the crucial step of education goes missing. I think democracy is based on education. Since I arrived at Ground Zero I’ve heard people say that several times in several contexts. Unfortunately the military has a vice-like grip on many means of educating the public: whether it’s media literacy, on college campuses, or entertainment. As a result it depends on people – good souls who come to gatherings like this – to inform the public. In looking over my own years – I’m 66 years old – it’s remarkable to me that so much energy has been invoked to stop wars, given the efforts of highly paid think tanks and media outlets to prevent that education. Many are very troubled by the ongoing war in Yemen with more momentum than we’ve seen in quite some time to stop the arming of Saudi Arabia [a Senate resolution passed 54-46 in March to end US support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen].”
It is time for every citizen to speak out forcefully, saying No War; Not in My Name!
There are bills in Congress to prevent President Trump from launching a war on Iran. Senator Udall has introduced S. 1039, the Prevention of Unconstitutional War with Iran Act, and Rep. Eshoo has introduced H.R. 2354 in the House. Click here to see if your Senators are cosponsors. Click here to see if your Representative is a cosponsor. If any are not, please call the Capital Switchboard at 202-224-3121 to be connected to the offices of your Senators and/or Representative and urge them to become cosponsors.
Here are some resources to understand what’s happening in Iran and why the drumbeat of war is so threatening to life and limb in Iran and in the US (courtesy of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility Nuclear Weapons Abolition Task Force).
- Iran officially ends some of its nuclear deal commitments, local media reports (Natasha Turak at CNBC)
- State Dept. orders nonemergency personnel to leave Iraq posts (NBC News)
- National Security Officials Detail Plan to Deploy Up To 12K Troops to Iran (Matthew Rozsa, Salon)
- Trump administration prepares multiple military options for Iran, including airstrikes and setting up ground invasion (Newsweek)
- Military Officials say there is no actual plan to confront Iran (John Walcott at Time.com)
- As tensions with Iran escalate, the real question we should all be asking is: who’s really in charge in the White House? (Jay Caruso in The Independent)
- Can Congress steer the U.S. away from war with Iran? (Nick Robins-Early in Huffington Post)
We can (and must) stop this massive, destructive war machine. And yes – the only thing that will stop it is the most massive and subversive deployment of LOVE that we can muster. We must all reach out in every direction to overcome the forces that seek to undermine the democratic process and the ability of citizens to make informed decisions that affect our nation and so many others.
On behalf of Ground Zero Center,
Leonard Eiger
