The 'Organized Left' gets left behind [again].
The Day New London, Ct [USA] [Former or present home of the U.S. nuclear submarine fleet]
At Home, A Call For Activism And Change Old Lyme church group holds discussion on war
http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=df48be44-4763-4f9b-b190-d2ca836fef13&prnt=1
By PATRICIA DADDONA Day Staff Writer, Waterford Published on 1/30/2006
Old Lyme — Former Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. and the parents of a fallen Marine told a crowd of 350 here Sunday that the patriotic way to oppose the war in Iraq is to step up and “agitate” for change.
For Weicker, that could mean a run for the U.S. Senate, a seat he lost prior to his one-term governorship to Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman, who has consistently supported the war.
For Rosemary Palmer and Paul Schroeder of Cleveland, Ohio, the parents of Marine LCPL Edward “Augie” Schroeder, activism has led to the founding of Families of the Fallen for Change. Their son died near Haditha, Iraq, last August. Their group, which numbers 850 citizens in 47 states, advocates for “responsible,” bipartisan strategies to end the war.
The Interfaith Peace Community of the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme sponsored Sunday's forum, “Iraq: When Will There Be Peace?”
To date, 2,241 troops have died in the war and more than 140,000 are there now. In addition, 31,800 Iraqi civilians have died, said Schroeder and Palmer.
“It is time this nation got a grip on itself so as to understand that the mistakes of one or two individuals should not define who we are,” Weicker said in a prepared speech, referring to the missing weapons of mass destruction, abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison, and other missteps of the administration of President George W. Bush.
He called for the U.S. to pull out of Iraq in six months to a year.
“We're not simply voyeurs to the tragedies unfolding before us. We are the government.... So as much as it might be easy to point the finger at President Bush or Democrats or Republicans or various other individuals in high places, ultimately it is all of us who must take responsibility for the quagmire known as Iraq,” Weicker said.
At 74 and recovering from a bout of bronchitis and knee surgery, he is only likely to run for the U.S. Senate if no one else steps up, he said.
“Each one of us should do what we do best to oppose this war,” he said. “Let me make clear to all of you and (my wife) Claudia, I have no desire to get back into the political arena. I've earned my stripes and my retirement, but it's the only thing I know how to do.”
Weicker lives in Essex and helps run the Trust for America's Health, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting the health of the nation and individual communities.
“Everybody has to do what they feel they individually can do,” he explained when a member of the audience asked how average people might get involved. “Maybe it's the simple act of voting. Maybe it's coming to a meeting like this. Maybe it's joining (Families of the Fallen). What's not acceptable is to sit at home and watch the damn television. Whatever it is, do it.”
Side-stepping a question from the audience about the possibility of a third-party candidacy, Weicker said he would not give candidates or incumbents of any party a “free pass” on the war, but would expect them to take a position. Weicker was elected governor as an independent candidate.
“You know, you're not electing elephants and donkeys,” he said. “You're electing people and it doesn't make a damn bit of difference what party they are from.”
Nada Awwa of Old Lyme, who came to United States from Syria, went up to Weicker after the forum to tell him that he totally supports his message of non-conformity, activism, and following one's conscience, she said.
“The idea that dissent is bringing relief to the enemy is incorrect,” she said. “It's actually opening eyes to the international world that this country is great for refusing to be tribal.”
The church's senior minister, the Rev. David Good, said the interfaith committee is working to “speak the truth as we see it,” with open-mindedness but also conviction, because a world without war is “a moral and spiritual imperative.”
Palmer and Schroeder propped a picture of their son sporting upside-down sunglasses at the front of the church and described him as a “joyous kid” who wanted to serve in the military to capture Osama bin Laden. The “monster” is terrorism, Schroeder said.
“The monster ... demands unilateralism and war, when what we need is global cooperation,” he said. “The monster claims God is on our side when what we need to feel safe, as Abraham Lincoln said is, ‘Are we on God's side?' Silence is a betrayal of American values.”
Their group has come up with a plan for ending the war, based on the continuing escalation of violence, which includes negotiating the percentage of troops that can come home in stages.
Shaun McNally, a former state representative who has recently visited Iraq, presented slides and video on conditions in Iraq and the reconstruction effort. To travel through Baghdad, an American has to take an eight-lane highway six miles in an armor-plated RV surrounded by Humvees, with a helicopter overhead.
“Constitutional acts have not caused a decline in the insurgency,” he said, despite predictions that would happen. “Things haven't gotten better.”
The forum ended with Good and another parish member reading the names and circumstances of death for 18 members of the military from Connecticut, including Marine Cpl. Kemaphoom A. Chanawongse, 22, of Waterford, who died near An Nasiriyah in 2003, and Army Spc. Jacob D. Martir, 21, of Norwich, who died in Sadr City in 2004.
As they filed out, members of the audience said they would support Weicker if he challenged Lieberman. Alexandria Isles of Essex said she'd volunteer to work for his campaign.
“He's inspiring,” Isles said. “He's what America should be about, what we used to be about: being anti-violent, caring.”
www.fofchange.org