Upcoming BPF Events

Since the fall of Baghdad, some sympathetic passers-by at our vigil have asked us, "What's the point? Isn't the war over?" To a large extent, we answered these questions simply by asking, "Is there peace?" Nevertheless, BPF, like the rest of the antiwar movement, must decide what we are trying to communicate to the American people right now. The following are a few thoughts that have emerged from our internal discussions:

It seems clear that the war is far from over. In our view, the fall of Baghdad did not mark the end of a war so much as the beginning of a long, simmering war that will include terrorist attacks at home and never-ending ambushes of our troops in the field. Our own government views the occupation of Iraq as part of the War on Terrorism, a war it expects to continue for years. It seems likely that this protracted war will have acute phases alternating with relatively dormant phases.

So, what should Buddhists do? To us it seems that we should continue to bring the war and its toll in human suffering to the attention of the American people. We should continue our vigils, rallies, and nonviolent civil disobedience (at a less intensive pace) to keep the following issues before the American people.

1. Our government has not renounced its doctrine of preventive war. Without a change in this policy, we face the prospect of war in Syria, Iran, Lebanon, and elsewhere.
   
2. Our government has not yet provided the financial aid it promised to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. By keeping a spotlight on this issue, we might alleviate some of the chaos and suffering our wars have caused.
   
3. 3. The U.S. media fails to show the true extent of suffering in Iraq and Afghanistan. Because Buddhists see and hear the suffering of the world (or at least try not to hide from it), we call for an end to media censorship of images of the death and suffering we caused by our invasions. War should speak for itself, and not be made acceptable through "patriotic" editing.
   
4. Our military interventions persist in Colombia, the Philippines, and elsewhere. We must keep these low-visibility instances of American militarism from being forgotten.
   
5. Our social programs are being looted to pay for these wars. We must call attention to this link between war and the suffering of America's poor. Martin Luther King, Jr., pointed out this "demonic, destructive, suction tube" that takes money from the poor and pours it into war.
   
6. Our government has not yet meaningfully addressed the plight of the Palestinian people. We cannot continue to ignore this root source of resentment against us among the Muslim peoples of the world.
   
7. Patriot Acts I and II and other assaults on our democratic rights continue. The proposed restrictions on our liberties cause suffering at home by increasing fear, suspicion, and division.
   
8. Our government has done nothing to lessen our strategic dependence on oil from the Gulf region. This issue links the war with the problem of global warming. Funds spent protecting oil supplies could subsidize increases in car mileage and the use of renewable energy sources that would in turn decrease greenhouse gas emissions and our current dependence on the Gulf region for about 25% of our oil needs.