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MoveOn.org organizes war opposition nationwide
by Paul F. P. Pogue Jan 29, 2003
MoveOn.org was founded in 1998 as an effort to bring closure to the impeachment process that dominated politics at the time. After the terrorist attacks of 2001, MoveOn joined forces with 9-11Peace.org and began to take action in opposition to war in Iraq. Their stated purpose is to give regular citizens and grass-roots movements a voice in politics. From their site: "MoveOn is working to bring ordinary people back into politics. With a system that today revolves around big money and big media, most citizens are left out Ö When there is a disconnect between broad public opinion and legislative action, MoveOn builds electronic advocacy groups." More than a dozen people gathered in the office of Sen. Evan Bayh Tuesday, Jan. 20, and two dozen in the office of Sen. Richard Lugar the following Thursday to express their opposition to the upcoming war in Iraq. These few were not alone; nationwide, MoveOn.org coordinated visits and expressions of opposition to 450 congressional offices around the country that week. They delivered 312,000 petition signatures - 4,215 from Indiana - to senators across the nation. All these efforts centered on one message: Let the inspections work. "We"re here to urge Senator Lugar to urge the president to commit himself to the U.N. process," said MoveOn.org spokesman David Keppel to Lugar"s state director, Lesley Reser, during the Thursday visit. "We believe the inspectors need a chance to succeed Ö If this is a war about weapons of mass destruction, we should remember that we condemn these things precisely because of the harm to innocents." As with many of the anti-war movements that have sprung up around the Iraq issue, MoveOn.org"s venture brings together a diverse group. Longtime activists stand alongside people who read about the meeting that morning and decided on their own to show up; retired military men alongside nuns; grandparents alongside college students. Perhaps the only thing they all have in common is a commitment to opposing what they see as an unjust war. One by one they make their cases to Reser: Julie Roberts: "I believe Senator Lugar has the vision and leadership to guide this process. I believe the president lacks some of this maturity, and the Republican leadership can offer some of the needed guidance in this." Gretchen Clearwater: "It"s terrifying, watching how this is being played out, not knowing what our leaders are really thinking. It"s like being in a dysfunctional family waiting for the alcoholic father to make a decision. Are we going to war tomorrow? Next week? It"s terrifying." IUPUI anthropology professor Kadhim Shaaban, who was born and raised in Iraq: "Why are we doing this? For whose sake? A madman who killed his own people and now we go in and kill them again. Now they have nothing. We expect them to rise up and fight for dignity, when they are worrying about having to fight for next day"s bread Ö Is Saddam worth so many innocent people dying? For what? For President Bush"s personal vendetta?" Keni Washington: "We are discussing the undiscussable: whether we are going to attack someone based on what we think they might have Ö A perfectly viable society can implode under a leader who does not understand history, who does not respect treaties, who does not understand international statesmanship." Steve DeFields-Gambrel: "I live in Edinburgh. This is God, guns and guts territory, with a lot of retired military around here. A lot of people in that area support military action as a matter of general principle. I"m sitting around kitchen tables in Edinburgh and hearing people say, "Well, I guess I support the war, but I"ve got a bad feeling about it." If Edinburgh isn"t supporting a war, it"s in for a lot of trouble." For the most part during the visit, Reser said little and listened to what they had to say. Early on she noted, "Senator Lugar is endeavoring to be very thoughtful and deliberate about this. As you know, he was a very vocal supporter for the U.N. to be involved." This was not the first visit by MoveOn.org to Lugar"s office; a similar effort took place in August, and they hope to arrange a meeting with Lugar himself sometime in February. On the national level, MoveOn.org"s work continued as an anti-war ad modeled on the infamous 1964 atomic-bomb "Daisy" commercial was aired in several cities during the Super Bowl.
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