Middle East Crisis, 1957

Here’s another find from the thousands of donations to our July 27th Hillsdale Book Sale: A “Penguin Special” titled “Middle East Crisis.” It cost 50 cents in 1957, the year of its publication.

Little has changed in 50 years. Our current Middle East crisis seems a clone of the one described in the little paperback.

Here are the first couple of paragraphs, but I
I've substituted parenthetically current references. The insertions fit seamlessly.

“The British and French (American) invasion of Egypt (Iraq) in November 1956 (March 2003) was the end of a tangled chain of events lasting many years. Blunders by individuals — worse than blunders — may have caused this calamity; but the invasion was the nemesis of a Middle East policy by Britain (the US) which has not for a long while been based on sound principles, and which has seldom been in keeping with the reality of the time. The only good thing that may come out of the disaster is an opportunity for a new start.

“The consequences of the armed action against Egypt (Iraq) were so alarming and so world-wide that those who made the decisions were obviously surprised, even though they claim that they were taking risks which they had calculated. Public opinion in Britain (the US) became more excited and divided than at any time since the controversy over appeasing Hitler (the waging of the Vietnamese War). The action of the British (American) government, even if charitably interpreted, raised questions of morals, politics, and judgment, which will continue to be debated for a very long time… “

Someone, please cue George Santayana.

P.S. “Middle East Crisis” will sell for 50 cents. The persistence of the price matches the persistence of the folly.

What Portland pays for the Iraq War

What is the estimated cost of the Iraq war to Portlanders in the 2008 fiscal year?

Take a guess:

a) $900,000
b) $10 million
c) $100 million
d) $190 million

To find the answer, go here, to the National Priorities Project web site.

Take that number and divide it by 600,000 Portlanders and you will get the average cost for each man, woman and child in the city — for one year. Of course, we have been in Iraq five years...and counting.

Another way to use the National Priorities Project site is to go to its "trade-offs" section. It will tell you, for instance, that the Fiscal Year 2007 US expenditures in Iraq would have provided 158,000 homes in Portland with renewable energy. Several other "trade-off"s are listed such as numbers of teachers and health care coverage.

I learned of the link to the National Priorities Project web site from the Friends Committee on National Legislation. FCNL's own site notes that 43 percent of your federal taxes will go to the military. Compare to the 3 percent that goes to education and jobs and the 1 percent that goes to diplomacy and foreign aid.

Did someone mention change?

Peace and War in Hillsdale

As I've reported here before, each Friday evening I am one of the six or so peace activists who cluster on the four corners of Sunset Boulevard and Capitol Highway.

We’ve been waving our signs at commuters since last January. We get more than a few honks and the rare extended middle finger.

Of course it is much darker and wetter now at our vigil. At some level it is miserable, but all I have to do is think of the misery of our soldiers and the Iraqis to make my own small discomfort disappear.

Last week one of our number was confronted by an angry Iraqi vet. He wasn’t exactly angry with us. In fact he said he appreciated what we were doing.

Then came his “but.”

“But you just don’t understand. You can’t understand,” He seemed angry at the world for not understanding, for not helping him with the war that still raged in his head.

I tell you this because it happened in Hillsdale on a rainy Friday night.

During the exchange, in which we listened and tried to console the vet, perhaps 200 commuters drove by, unaware that a part of the Iraq War had come to the very intersection they passed through on their way home for a weekend of football or parties or shopping or parenting.

I’ve often wondered why more people haven’t joined us at the vigils. Some no doubt say, “What’s the point? It won’t do any good.”

That’s an easy dismissal. For me, standing with others, urging an end to the war, listening to an angry vet, connects me to my own responsibility for what this nation’s government does, and doesn’t do.

We gather at 5:30 p.m. every Friday evening. Please consider joining us.

Leibman's complaint...and mine

In a letter to the editor in this month’s Southwest Community Connection, Eric Leibman makes note of our Friday evening peace vigils and then writes, “As a Hillsdale resident, I want to point out that there are definitely people, myself included, who do not agree with the protests.”

I assume that his problem isn’t with protesting per se but with our reasons for protesting as the rest of the long letter is devoted to why he believes American forces must stay in Iraq.

He asks how we protesters plan to avoid the catastrophe that he believes will ensue if American forces withdraw.

He clearly believes the nations of the Middle East are incapable of solving their own problems without an American occupation. And of course there’s the question of maintaining Exxon/Mobil’s (he says “America’s) access to all that oil.

I don’t want to get into the logic or illogic of his arguments, the deceptions of the Bush Administration and the fact that Bush and Cheney are joined at the hip with the corrupt, despotic Saudis and rapacious, collusive Big Oil.

No, I was hoping that Leibman would focus in criticism on the protests themselves. Are they a bad idea? Are they misleading?

I believe they are a good idea, but the are clearly misleading if people seeing us conclude that people like Leibman don’t exist.

I invite Leibman and others of a like mind to come down with their own placards and put their slogans up against ours.

Mine says, “Wage Peace.” Theirs might say, “Wage War.”

Mine says, “Say ‘No!’ to War” Theirs might say, “Say ‘No!’ to Peace” or “Say ‘Yes!’ to War.”

Whatever they say, I’d stand side by side with fellow neighbor Leibman and his colleagues.

As I’ve noted, most commuters signal their approval of our anti-war view, but a few flip us off.
So Leibman might be heartened by support in the stream of homeward-bound traffic.

I hope that we all would find support for just being there and reminding people that this nation is in crisis, however you define it.

I’d like to see that corner become a kind of Speakers' Corner, like that in London’s Hyde Park, where all comers are welcomed. As much as we disagree, we share a belief in free and open public debate.

I’m glad Leibman wrote his letter to The Connection, now I wish he’d stand up for his views next to us at the corner of Sunset and Capitol.

It would do us all good.

Quick. List 10 reasons for leaving Iraq

Before I give you 10 reasons for leaving Iraq that the American Friends Service Committee has compiled on its web site, try to come up with your own.

If you are like me, you will find reasons that aren't on the AFSC list.

As good as the Quaker-affiliated organization's list is, it is 16 months old — and the situation in Iraq is far worse now than the calamity it was back then.

Moreover, the American mid-term elections, which came 11 months after this list, also produced a popular mandate for change. The administration is opposed by a growing majority of Americans. Chalk up another reason to leave.

You can go to the AFSC web site for a fuller discussion of the 10 reasons given in Dec. 2005. Here are the headings for each, along with my own read of how the situation has worsened in every case.

1. The human cost of war is unacceptable. The cost in life on all sides has risen far higher since Dec. 2005. And the pace of the loss of life has quickened. There are no degrees of "unacceptability" but more and more Americans have adopted the "unacceptable cost" position.
   
2. The U.S. occupation is a catalyst for violence. The level of violence has continued to mount since December 2005. Last year was seen as a year of the escalation of violence and this year's "surge" is not working.
   
3. U.S. actions inflame divisions and the chance of civil war.
   Fewer and fewer analysts are talking about "the chance of civil war." By nearly all accounts, Iraq has devolved into civil war.
   
4. Iraqis want the United States to leave now.
   Polls continue to show large majorities want American troops out.
   
5. Democracy cannot flourish under an occupation.
   It is farther from "flourishing" today than it was even when this was written.
   
6. The United States has failed to rebuild Iraq or provide for Iraqis’ basic needs.
   This situation also worsens with more and more evidence of graft associated with American assistance.
   
7. The Iraq war and occupation waste resources needed for U.S. domestic programs.
   As true as ever, with a widening disparity between rich and poor.
8. The U.S. occupation of Iraq destabilizes the Middle East.
   The recent spread of terrorism to North Africa is further evidence of the Iraq fall-out. Tensions between Israel and her neighbors continue. The fighting in southern Lebanon and the missile attacks on Israel happened after this list was drafted.
   
9. Humanitarian aid is crippled by the occupation.
   I have read nothing about this subject, but the worsening of the general situation is certain to have hampered humanitarian aid further.
   
10. The global community wants the war and occupation to end now. It still does.
    The reputation of the US continues to fall in the world community.

Thoreau's words grip us in our times

All great literature reaches out and touches readers of all times.

But in these times Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” grabs us by the lapels, stares us in the eyes and firmly demands that we act on what we believe.

We are reading “Civil Disobedience” for our Hillsdale Book Group. For me “Reading” doesn’t quite describe the experience. Call it an encounter or engagement.

I’ll find out about the others’ experience when we meet next Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Multnomah Art Center Senior Lounge. (I provide the specifics because you are invited.)

Thoreau’s essay has sought me out in this time of war, moral depravity, subservience to the state and political posturing.

Thoreau’s words hold me accountable, and I am coming up short.

His essay published in 1849 resounds across nearly 16 decades—two end-to-end life spans.

He doesn’t have to mention “Iraq” or “George W. Bush” or even “Hillary Rodham Clinton” for us to know that he somehow anticipated them—and us.

Listen.

“A common and natural result of an undue respect for law is that you may see a file of soldiers—colonel, captain, corporal, privates, powder-monkeys, and all—marching in admirable order over the hill and dale to the wars, against their wills, ay, against their common sense and consciences, which makes it very steep marching indeed….The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies….

“Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens. Others—as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers and office-holders—serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the Devil, without intending it, as God.

“A very few, as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense,…serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it…."

And then he adds:

“What I have to do is to see… that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.”

Re-reading those words, I thought of our Hillsdale protests against the war. A dozen or so of us gathered at Sunset Boulevard and Capitol Highway again on Friday evening, bearing witness to our opposition as the evening commuters droned past.

It is not enough. Through our taxes and or polite opposition to our government’s policies, we are still “lending ourselves to the wrong which we condemn.”

In protest to America’s war with Mexico, Thoreau famously refused to pay his poll tax. He spent a single night in the Concord jail. The stay was a one-night wonder, an example, but he didn’t make civil disobedience a habit.

That said, “Civil Disobedience,” which recounts the experience, inspired others, among them Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr.

Today, the words of the 19th Century Concord recluse hold a mirror before our faces and ask: And what about you?

A vigil of protest, peace and remembrance

We convene again this Friday, Jan. 26, at the corner of Sunset and Capitol to show our opposition to the war in Iraq.

Here are the names of the 49 Oregonians who have died in the conflict so far:

Nettles, Marcques J. Petty Officer 3rd Class 02-Apr-2006;
Newman, Randy Lee Lance Corporal 20-Aug-2006;
Moothart, Travis A. Sergeant 27-Jan-2004;
Blickenstaff, Joseph M. Specialist 08-Dec-2003;
McKinley, Eric S. Specialist 13-Jun-2004;
Fennerty, Sean P. Sergeant 20-Jan-2007;
Zyla, Michael S. Staff Sergeant 13-Dec-2005;
Loveless, Jeremy M. Corporal 29-May-2006;
Thornton, Steven W. Major 18-Apr-2005;
Whitman, Chase R. Specialist 08-May-2004;
Rogers, Philip G. Specialist 04-Apr-2004;
Plumondore, Adam J. Sergeant 16-Feb-2005;
Mitts, David A. Sergeant 04-Dec-2004;
Simpson, Jacob M. Sergeant 16-May-2005;
Lee, Marc A. Petty Officer 2nd Class 02-Aug-2006;
Kesterson, Erik C. Chief Warrant Officer 15-Nov-2003;
Hill, Ryan J. Private 1st Class 20-Jan-2007;
Van Leuven, Gary F. Lance Corporal 17-Apr-2004;
Kelly, Bryan P. Lance Corporal 16-Jul-2004;
Warren, Mark C. Sergeant 1st Class 31-Jan-2005;
Davis, Kevin Dewayne Staff Sergeant 08-Apr-2005;
Tucker, Thomas Lowell Private 1st Class 16-Jun-2006;
Jones, Robert L. Specialist 17-Jun-2006;
Bradachnall, Travis J. Corporal 02-Jul-2003;
Wessel, Kevin S. K. Private 1st Class 19-Apr-2005;
Roberts, Bob W. Lance Corporal 17-May-2004;
Stever, Robert Anthony Staff Sergeant 08-Apr-2003;
McCrae, Erik S. 1st Lieutenant 04-Jun-2004;
Linden, Justin W. Specialist 04-Jun-2004;
Ramirez, William C. Private 1st Class 11-Feb-2004;
Wesley, Christopher Jude Rivera Specialist 08-Dec-2003;
Johnson, David W. Specialist 25-Sep-2004;
Kent, Aaron A. Seaman 23-Apr-2005;
Tobler, Brandon Scott Specialist 22-Mar-2003;
Weisenburg, David J. Staff Sergeant 13-Sep-2004;
Henkes II, Richard J. Sergeant 1st Class 03-Sep-2006;
Haag, Chase A. Corporal 01-Oct-2006;
Moore, James Lee Corporal 26-Jan-2005
Bright, Dean Private 1st Class 04-Oct-2006;
Eyerly, Justin L. Sergeant 04-Jun-2004;
Jones, Derek W. Lance Corporal 08-Oct-2006;
Isenberg, Benjamin W. Specialist 13-Sep-2004;
Contreras, Aaron Joseph Captain 30-Mar-2003;
Walker, Ryan D. Specialist 05-Jan-2006;
Troyer, Tyler J. Lance Corporal 19-Nov-2005;
Gibson, Brennan C. Sergeant 10-Dec-2006;
Huston Jr., James B. Lance Corporal 02-Jul-2004;
Leisten, Ken W. Private 1st Class 28-Jul-2004;
Rockholt Jr., Ricky W.

Reciting Iraq War toll; writing Sen. Smith

Ruth Atkins, who is organizing the peace vigils in Hillsdale, has given me the "Iraq Coalition Casualties" web site that lists the names of Americans killed in Iraq.

The site provides sobering statistics about the killed and wounded, from all quarters in this war.

A link on the site lists fatalities by state.

So far 47 Oregonians have died. Count to 47 slowly, take a breath, in and out for each number...then read each name, with deliberation, breathe in and out for a life lost.

Those at future Hillsdale vigils plan to do it again and again.

Tragically, the list will grow until our protestations here and around the country succeed.

A key legislator to touch with the message is Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith, who is up for re-election next year. He's no Oregon maverick of the Wayne Morse tradition, but he is making a mark.

We must not let Smith, a Republican, shy away from the position he took on the Senate floor last month when he called the Bush Administration's Iraq policies "absurd" and perhaps "criminal." He needs to expand his new awareness to include a new energy policy, one that allows us to cut our oil umbilical to the Middle East...and to let its people go.