Walter Reed Vigil Report No. 6


The September 23rd Vigil was filled with people from all over the country. We had people from Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, and Santa Monica. We had people from Oklahoma! There was a lot pink which certainly demonstrates the strength and commitment of Code Pink. There were union people and independent activists. There were too many people there to count.

Despite the larger size of the vigil, discipline was maintained throughout the two hours of our presence. We are not there to draw attention to ourselves. We are there to draw attention to Walter Reed and what this hospital represents during a time of war. We are there to draw attention to our sisters and brothers inside Walter Reed who were put on the line and paid a price. They should never be forgotten.

We may be disciplined but we certainly are not a dour bunch. Sometimes the vigilers break out in song-uplifting songs, songs that raise our spirits and remind us that in good acts there is strength. In Hebrew, there is a word Mitzvah. It means taking a moment to step outside oneself to do something that needs to be done. To do the right thing. Everyone who stops their normal routine to stand at the vigil is performing a mitzvah. It is a mitzvah for our soldiers and it is a mitzvah for our country. Perhaps that is why, despite the very serious nature of what we are dealing with, those who stand at the vigil leave each night with a sense of joy.

The days of the war in Iraq continue to pile up. The violence is the surest indicator that something is terribly wrong with our government's policy. What is going on in Iraq is not some kind of crime wave. It is a nation resisting occupation. It is a nation now torn apart by civil war. Our young men and women did not sign up to be occupiers. They are our defenders. The time has come to extricate them from this war for a narrow political agenda. Why should young US working people be forced to make enemies of Iraqi working people? Only the fanatics on both sides profit from this terrible situation.

We are saying that The Way to do the best for our troops is to demand that this war end and for them to be brought home. We say that should happen now, not tomorrow or next year.

There are some who equate Support the Troops with "support the mission". We want the troops to stop being troops. We want them back as regular folks again.

What is the mission?
There are some who believe that having troops in the field, planes in the air, and ships at sea means the rest of us can sleep easy in our beds. Those who adopt this belief are content to know that others risk their lives for them. They "honor" them by waving flags, shouting God Bless Our Soldiers, and attacking anyone who disagrees.

These voices are wrong twice. First, by not paying attention to why our armed forces have been unleashed, they foolishly support without question the most obvious propaganda. Joseph Goebbels called it the Big Lie. He said the bigger the lie the easier believed. Some people are happy enough believing in the John Ford/John Wayne version of reality where the cavalry is just there to do a job (suppressing "Indians").

They are wrong secondly because the occupation of Iraq makes none of us safer, least of all the Iraqis. Demonstrably, the world is not a safer place. Like the army of another era, this one is being wasted. Among all the crimes of the current administration, this may be the worst-the waste of a generation of our youth to protect the profits and ambitions of a small elite.


More people lately marched in Washington DC against the war than the number of U.S. troops currently stationed in Iraq.
A tiny number, far less than the number of insurgents in Iraq, took exception to the march. Their criticism did not impede the hundreds of thousands who marched here and world wide calling loudly for an end to the U.S. war against and the occupation of Iraq. It's all right to be part of a very small number who waves the flag in mindless support of a corporate agenda of maximizing profits on the backs of working people. Those who do can take pride in not being lemmings marching for peace and justice, an end to racism, sexism, and unbridled finance capitalism.

Are we a bunch of commies?
 There are some who seem to think that any dissent, any opinion differing from the official government line, must be crushed. They don't have to look to Iraq for enemies when they have us right here. Unable or unwilling to do anything positive for their country, these people set themselves against their fellow citizens. They invent soldier heroes in the same manner that some men put women on pedestals, to set them up and then to rape them.

The Vigil continues its mission.
We were sickened at the thought that those who used our youth in the war and occupation wanted to keep them hidden, cheat them of the benefits they were due, and redeploy them to Iraq as soon as possible. We don't want this war to be endless. We don't want it to go on a day longer. We are not asking our young people to return home covered in glory. We want them home whole to return to their families and jobs. We want the injured to be healed. We want the swords turned into plowshares. Until then, we will be out there, Friday evenings, for two hours, exercising our right to speak out, not letting this war and those who paid too high a price be forgotten.
 

Bruce Wolf
OPEIU Local 2
For the Walter Reed Vigil
Washington, DC