by Matthew Smucker, WRL Field Organizer
Published in WIN Magazine Winter 2008 Issue
Since coming on board with the War Resisters League last April, I’ve been meeting with peace and justice organizers across the country, hearing about what’s working, what’s not, and what’s needed at the local level. One of the assessment questions I’ve been asking folks is about the role of antiwar veterans and soldiers in the peace movement.
Responses have varied but there seems to be broad agreement that, while we need many voices from diverse backgrounds speaking out against war, still, veterans and soldiers deserve a special place. War impacts them more than anyone else inside the US. Furthermore, antiwar soldiers and vets are positioned to play a unique and powerful role in ending the Iraq War, in preventing a war against Iran, and in challenging a culture of militarism. The success of their organizing efforts is crucial to the success of the broader antiwar movement.
So, are we doing what we can to support their success? What do they need? Do they have enough money and resources to operate at full capacity? What else do we have to offer?
We’ve been asking ourselves and other folks in the peace movement these questions, and reflecting more specifically on support roles the WRL might play – as well as the historic role of GIs within the War Resisters League. We’re having this conversation in the context of a deepening relationship with Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). This spring the IVAW NYC chapter moved into a section of our national office. They set up shop shortly after I came on as field organizer. At the time Steve Theberge (WRL Organizing Coordinator) was working with them on planning for Operation First Casualty (OFC), in which IVAW members dressed in their fatigues and re-enacted scenes from the Iraq War in the streets of New York. Steve coordinated the “civilian actors” for OFC, and pulled me in to help with some of the media outreach. We were both deeply moved by the experience. Since then we’ve been able to collaborate with IVAW on a few projects including workshops at the US Social Forum, a meeting of NYC IVAW members and allies, and a weekend strategy and skills retreat.
IVAW started in July of 2004 with seven founding members, and now, two and a half years later, their numbers have grown to over 700 members and 30 chapters. IVAW is made up of people who have been (and some who currently are in) any branch of the service during the “war on terror.” Their strategy is to pressure an end to the Iraq War by organizing military dissent and weakening military support for the war. They are at an exciting stage in the development of their organization, with an increasing number of members becoming skilled organizers.
I am excited about what additional support for antiwar soldiers and vets could look like in the current political context. However, part of me is cautious. My misgivings are not a question of whether they deserve support, but rather of whether well-intended support could ever be a liability. I think the key is for supporters to find ways to stand with vets and soldiers without standing in the camera shot, and without trying to run the show. At Operation First Casualty the supporters spent a day together before the action, training to play a support role that drew the attention not to themselves, but to the vets. It was a good example of supporters playing less visible but very appreciated roles, and taking direction from the vets.
My interactions with IVAW members these past months have tremendously shifted the way I think about soldiers and vets in relation to antiwar organizing. I used to, without realizing it, think of antiwar soldiers mostly as insiders who became defectors, thankfully bolstering the antiwar movement’s positions. While there is some truth to this, there are also much deeper layers. When I listen to an antiwar soldier or vet speak about their experiences, my ideological frameworks seem distant and abstract. I find myself deeply moved, fully captivated by their powerful stories. I start to see them as the primary community impacted by war (within the US); a community struggling for peace and justice on behalf of others, but also on its own behalf, for its own rights, dignity and liberation. War has affected more than their opinions. Many, many vets return home injured or traumatized by their experiences. CBS recently reported (November 13, 2007) that in 2005 at least 6256 US veterans committed suicide, averaging 17 per day. IVAW is working to end the Iraq War, but also to meet real needs of its membership. I used to think supporting IVAW meant arranging for a member to speak at a rally. But clearly meaningful support has to go deeper.
As this ugly war drags on, IVAW’s numbers continue to grow, as well as their capacity. They are currently organizing for Winter Soldier, where soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan will testify about their experiences to show that, “the problem goes much deeper than the atrocities of Abu Ghraib or the massacre in Haditha,” and that, “responsibility belongs to those in the seat of power.” Let’s ask how we can support them.
