Two Years Later: Why Iraq Still Matters

by Maia Duerr
BPF Executive Director
March 2005

In March 2003, many of us watched in horror as the U.S. government bombarded the city of Baghdad and other towns in Iraq, in what the secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld proudly dubbed "Shock and Awe." In response, millions of people across the world raised their voices to stop the war, manifesting what the New York Times called "the world's other superpower."

Two years later, more than 1,500 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens have been killed (the U.S. government does not keep an official count of civilian deaths). The original reasons for going to war have been rendered moot. (Recently, the Bush administration has touted the Iraqi election as the crowning achievement of this war, without acknowledging that free elections were not on the list of U.S. objectives and came about only through the persistence and insistence of the Iraqi people.) The economic cost of the war on Iraq alone has been staggering-$156 billion as of this writing, according to the National Priorities Project (www.costofwar.com). And many in the peace movement have felt lost and in despair over the course of events during the past two years. As dharma practitioners who care deeply about the world, this is when we might begin to notice ourselves getting caught in our attachment to outcomes, as we wonder if our work still matters and if peace is really possible.

In February, I attended United for Peace and Justice's second assembly in St. Louis, Missouri, along with more than 450 other leaders of peace and justice organizations that are part of the UFPJ coalition. Many people there grappled with varying degrees of hopelessness—but there was also a great deal of energy to pick up and move forward.

At the assembly, we considered the direction the coalition should take over the next 18 months. We deliberated on a statement of strategy that would continue to make ending the war in Iraq and bringing the troops home the main focus of UFPJ's work.

At first, I was hesitant to sign on to this statement in BPF's name, aware of how easy it is for many of us in the peace movement to develop a kind of tunnel-vision and to overlook the less obvious casualties of injustice right in our own backyards. In the U.S. and in many other corners of the globe, there are neighborhoods that are far removed from the conflict in Iraq, but whose residents are similarly devastated by the widening gap between rich and poor; by a scarcity of basic services such as health care, education, and public transportation; and by many forms of structural violence and oppression.

But as the discussion unfolded across UFPJ's diverse coalition of individuals and organizations—
everyone from Veterans for Peace to Code Pink to Black Voices for Peace—we discovered that we could find common ground as we focused our attention on the situation in Iraq. I was reminded of Thich Nhat Hanh's observation that by looking deeply at one thing, we will see its connection with all other things.

A deep exploration of the U.S. occupation of Iraq revealed a number of issues that were of concern to all of us, across a wide spectrum: young people, elders, people of color, those with scarce economic resources and those with sufficient resources, Jews, Muslims, Christians, secular activists. These issues include civil rights, immigration rights, institutionalized racism, militarism, nuclear proliferation, Israeli/Palestinian struggles, corporate globalization, and free trade. It's all there, embedded in the conflict in Iraq, and those issues will be at the foundation of other conflicts that the U.S. may engage in the coming years.

The nature of our world is more interconnected than we know. Unwinding the knots of these injustices will be the work of our lifetime—and beyond. But that doesn't mean that we should avoid undertaking it. The Bodhisattva vow clearly tells us the impossible nature of our charge: Beings are numberless; we vow to save them. One look at today's world makes it clear that there are many beings to be saved. A deeper understanding of dharma tells us that no "one" is saved and no "one" is doing the saving—we are all doing this for each other.

And we can appreciate the blessing of doing this important work for peace and justice in a loving community. One of the most moving lines I heard in St. Louis was delivered by actor Danny Glover, who reminded us that we need to savor the world at the same time that we are trying to save it.

So, two years later, our work is to move through and beyond despair to continue to passionately raise our voices for peace and justice in Iraq and beyond. As the second anniversary of the war on Iraq arrives on March 19, BPF encourages the Buddhist community and friends to persist in this necessary work.

What can we do? Three of the most important things:

• Participate in one of the actions planned worldwide on March 19 to mark the second anniversary of the war and to call for an end to the suffering. Two of the biggest events will be happening in:
  
  Fayetteville, North Carolina
  San Diego, California
  
  See the United for Peace and Justice website for a complete calendar. If there is a BPF chapter in your area, contact them to find out how to become involved.
  
  
• Continue to bear witness to the human cost of the war in Iraq. "Bearing witness" is not about blame or judgment; in a Buddhist context, it's about seeing reality, just as it is. One powerful way to do this is to visit "Eyes Wide Open," the American Friends Service Committee's traveling exhibit on Iraq. BPF members across the U.S. have helped to set up the exhibit and held meditation vigils during it, and have found it a transformative experience.
  
  
• Explore the ways in which we all contribute to the conditions that perpetuate this war, and all systems of violence. Consider how the choices we make in relation to our participation in the tax system, our usage of oil, etc., can be more closely aligned with values that affirm life.

There is much more, of course. Please see our 2005 Peace and Justice Calendar for more important dates throughout this year, and please join with us in our efforts to cultivate a peaceful and just world.

Maia Duerr is BPF's executive director. A Buddhist practitioner since 1993, Maia received lay ordination from Roshi Joan Halifax into both the Order of Interbeing and the Zen Peacemaker Order. She is currently a student in the Soto Zen lineage of Suzuki Roshi, and has lived and practiced at the San Francisco Zen Center.

Maia has been part of the BPF community since 1999, first as the associate editor of Turning Wheel and then as a board member. She is committed to exploring the intersection of social change and dharma practice, and engaged in her first civil disobedience during a March 2003 action at the Westover Air Base in Chicopee, MA, at the start of the Iraq war.

Buddhist Peace Fellowship
Bringing Together Buddhism and Progressive Social Change
www.bpf.org