On the Question of "Supporting the Troops"
From the Not in Our Name Interim Steering Committee

April 4, 2003 -

With the full involvement of U.S. forces in the war on Iraq, the question of what stand to take toward U.S. troops has become a big question throughout society. The NION Interim Steering Committee has discussed this several times, and we would like to offer our thinking and some points for discussion.

1 - The slogan "support the troops" has been raised by some sections of the anti-war movement as well as the U.S. Government and those who are pro-war. Let's think about this. How can one oppose this unjust war and, at the same time, support the troops who are carrying out orders to invade and occupy a sovereign country, shoot civilians if it can be justified on the basis of protecting themselves, and drop massive amounts of bombs and missiles on heavily populated cities? What does "support the troops" in this context really mean?

2 - Some say, "the troops are only following orders." This argument was not accepted by international courts after WW2. The Nuremberg Trials established that "following orders" is not a justification for carrying out attacks on civilians and other war crimes. While the overwhelming numbers of recruits who make up the present U.S. Armed Forces probably did not enlist to make war on other countries and kill people - armed forces recruiters likely did not emphasize this to them before they signed up - the enlisted men and women have a responsibility to oppose what they feel is unjust. Do they have a choice? The choice may be difficult and full of personal risk, but, yes, they have a choice.

3- Many of these troops enlisted because military service promised a way out of poverty or dead-end jobs. How can we "turn our backs" on them? No matter what the reasons for enlisting were, the fact remains that this is an unjust and immoral war. The U.S. government needs these troops to be "cannon fodder" and has trained them to "kill or be killed." We do not want our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters to be mercenary killers. "Turning our backs" would be to ignore what this war is about and what the U.S. government is ordering them to do to the Iraqi people.

4 - What about the troops' safety? The Not in Our Name Project stands with the people of the world. We are concerned about the safety of the Iraqi people - and the people of every country - no less than the safety of Americans. Is the life of a U.S. soldier more valuable than the life of an Iraqi woman or man or child? And concerning the troops' safety, we have to ask, who has put these troops in harm's way? "Supporting the troops" will not take them out of danger; only stopping the war NOW and withdrawing all U.S. military will do that.

5 - What do the troops need to hear from us? THE TRUTH. The truth about the nature of this war, what they are being ordered to do, how this will degrade and haunt many of them for the rest of their lives. (See Vets Call to Conscience.) The nature of this war has not changed because the war has begun. It was and remains unjust, immoral and illegitimate and must continue to be opposed and resisted. The troops also need to know that there are hundreds of thousands of people in this country, from clergy to friends and family members, who will support them if they follow their conscience and refuse to carry out unjust orders or commit war crimes.

6 - We encourage people to support the troops who follow their conscience and refuse to carry out unjust and immoral orders.

A recent chant concentrates this very well:

This war is wrong
To resist is right.
We support the troops
Who refuse to fight.

[4-7-03]

What do people say now who would protest against a war that "is going so well"?

Thanks to Arch Taylor, who shared this note from a former Methodist colleague in mission service in Japan, and to Betty Swain who wrote the note, and the provided us with added background for it.

At our request, she provides a little background:

We (our small "Neighbors for Peace" group) stand at the courthouse on Main St. in Waynesville, NC for an hour each Wednesday at noon. Our small town has a population of 9,000 in the winter and 20,000 in the summer. A neighboring community, Clyde, NC, hosts a reserve Army unit that has recently left for the battle zone in Kuwait after having just returned in December from six months in Afghanistan. This makes our stand a little more difficult for us and for these family members. We all agree on one thing, however, that it will soon be over.

Now that the war we were protesting is well underway, folks who witnessed our Wednesday vigils are wondering why we're still standing there. So, we composed a letter that was published in our local paper explaining our concern.

Excerpts follow:

"We continue our vigil as a work of mourning. We mourn because the patient work of peace and collaboration has been broken by the fevers of war and inflamed nationalism. We mourn for our fellow Americans, for the Iraqi people, for British soldiers - for all those being killed and injured... We mourn because this war has blinded us to the need to pursue a just peace in Israel/Palestine and between India and Pakistan. It has prevented us from dealing effectively with nuclear threats from North Korea. We mourn because valuable resources have been diverted from pressing domestic needs. We mourn because under the pall of war we sink deeper into economic divisions and loss of civil liberty and mutual respect. We mourn for a planet ravaged by economic environmental degradation and our implacable addiction to violence...Everyone of similar mind and purpose is invited to join us in this work of mourning and hope for peace.... "

Our community is all aflutter with yellow ribbons and red white and blue flag banners on lamp posts and store fronts and, most recently, with purple lapel ribbons distributed by a local church to "support our soldiers" as brave liberators from this Christian country. The color purple was chosen because this is the "royal color of Jesus Christ and symbolizes victory over evil." It's the Crusades all over again, at least for some here. So, against this backdrop of largely hostile good ol' boys in pickup trucks, and a few somewhat timid others who flash a quick thumbs-up or peace sign we stand in mourning for all of the above. We have begun to wear our own lapel ribbons - ours are black. And when asked we say that we mourn for all the dead, for our country, and for our planet. This message becomes clearer with each passing day and the reports of dead soldiers and "collateral damage."

Join with us to make this witness. Wear a black ribbon and raise questions.

With love,
Betty