Peaceful
Warrior
By Chris Strohm and Ingrid Drake
As the U.S. occupation of Iraq extends with no end in sight,
and the death toll for both U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians
continues to mount, more voices of dissent from military personnel
and families are audible every day.
One of the most poignant so far comes from a young Marine
who gave an interview with Pacifica Radio’s Peacewatch
program the night before he was deployed to Iraq. He discussed
his strong commitment to peace, and said the Bush administration
was violating constitutional principles and misleading the
country into an unjust war.
He was killed in late June, fighting a war he didn’t
believe in.
Because the interview was given under the condition of anonymity,
and out of respect for the current wishes of his family, the
Marine will be identified in this story only as John (not
his real name). John’s friends describe him as a passionate,
intense person with an insatiable appetite for knowledge and
a commitment to peace. He studied philosophy and peace with
an emphasis on Middle Eastern affairs, particularly Iraq and
Israel.
His friends say he went into the military under the Clinton
administration to gain credibility, so that perhaps someday
his beliefs on how to build a lasting peace in the Middle
East would be taken seriously. In the months before his deployment,
he helped organize anti-war campaigns, mainly working behind
the scenes.
In his interview with Pacifica, John expressed outrage that
a legitimate public debate on the war had not occurred. Many
alternatives to combat were available, he explained, such
as using money being spent for war to finance a grassroots
Iraqi democracy movement that would rival the Baath regime,
or promoting democracy throughout the Middle East to show
people alternative forms of government.
“It is almost unimaginable to expect that this war
is going to create a better peace for anybody with the exception
of a very small percentage of people,” he said.
He accused the administration of not talking honestly with
the American public about potential consequences of a U.S.
war on Iraq, such as the potential for urban combat, the psyche
of the Iraqi people, the impact on the United Nations and
the fate of the Middle East.
“This could have repercussions in terms of the war
on terrorism,” he said. “It could have repercussions
on international diplomacy. It could have repercussions on
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It could have repercussions
in terms of our ability to get anything else done in the United
Nations. And even if... everything goes the way it’s
supposed to go, what does that mean for the world order? It
says that we basically can do whatever we want to do whenever
we want to do it because we are the world’s sole superpower.”
But even as he expressed doubts about the Bush administration’s
decision, he spoke eloquently about his patriotism, and looked
to the highest ideals of the country for inspiration:
“I believe in the United States. I believe in the
Constitution. I think it’s perhaps one of the greatest
documents ever written. I believe in the idea that we the
people are sovereign and we determine our own destiny. We
have a democracy and the Bill of Rights and freedom of expression,
freedom of speech, freedom of religion and due process. Until
the world is such a place that we can really live without
the military, individual Americans have to step up and they
have to serve.”
The Bush administration, he claimed, had not made a credible
case for war with Iraq, and was violating constitutional principles
by sending troops into combat. He spoke of the Declaration
of Independence, and how its writers vowed to be free of England,
where their lives were ruled and determined by one man. “The
constant rhetoric of the administration is that there’s
going to be one person who decides when we go to war,”
he said, “and that is such a blatant violation of every
constitutional principle that our founding fathers came up
with.”
“But even beyond that, it’s ‘we the people’
that this nation is about,” he continued. “It
isn’t about politics or personal agendas or political
agendas or economic agendas. And I believe that this war is
not the right thing for America because it hasn’t yet
been proven conclusively that there is a threat to ‘we
the people’ – and I think that is the sole determining
factor as to whether or not this nation should ever go to
war.”
With chilling foresight, John predicted that much could
go wrong in a war with Iraq, saying the outcomes outlined
by the administration were based on highly optimistic and
rosy scenarios. He said it was unlikely that Iraqis would
cheer the arrival of a U.S. occupying force, and that long-term
urban combat could be a likely outcome.
Yet he went to Iraq, believing it to be his duty. And continued,
even in the midst of combat, to exercise his belief in nonviolent
resolution. One of his commanders wrote a letter after his
death explaining a situation in which John negotiated a peaceful
settlement to a potentially deadly situation. A group of Baath
Party officials were found inside a house. Because he spoke
Arabic, John entered the house and talked with the officials
until he negotiated a surrender. His actions potentially saved
the lives of both U.S. soldiers and Iraqis.
In letters home, John described the peace movement as “awesome,”
and said he hoped it would grow larger, never relent against
the Bush administration, and help bring an end to the war.
Around June 20, those letters stopped.
As of July 14, 32 American soldiers have died from hostile
action since Bush declared an end to major combat operations
in Iraq on May 1, according to the Pentagon. Forty-three other
service members have died in incidents unrelated to hostilities.
Nancy Lessin, co-founder of Military Families Speak Out,
says more people are becoming outraged now that the war against
Iraq has turned into a highly risky occupation.
“Too many U.S. military personnel and way too many
innocent Iraqis have been killed,” she says. “And
what we predicted to be true has come true, that there are
no weapons of mass destruction. Everything we said was going
to happen is coming to pass, and one of the most frightening
aspects of this is that the people of this country haven’t
completely risen up in opposition to what’s going on.”
Her words are echoed, and answered, by John’s. Before
he was deployed, John wrote a final letter as part of his
will.
“That I have died means I have failed to achieve the
one thing in life I truly longed to give the world –
peace,” the letter reads. “The plight of human
suffering consumed me and I dedicated much to trying to find
the ideas that might lead humankind toward alleviating it
for all. It was a quest which was inextricably intertwined
with my quest for freedom. If you know anything about me you
know that. Understand it and come to understand how the suffering
of others tormented my soul. Then seek to honor my memory
by trying to achieve what I could not.”
Chris Strohm is a freelance reporter and volunteer with
the DC Independent Media Center. Ingrid Drake is a correspondent
for Pacifica Radio’s Peacewatch program.
Andrew Korfhage provided additional reporting for this article.
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