Why BPF continues to call for withdrawal of U.S. troops
and an end to the war in Iraq

December 1, 2005

As BPF’s executive director and chapter coordinator, I’ve been lucky enough to travel a great deal this year and to meet with BPF members and chapters in many locations. In regards to our involvement with trying to end the war in Iraq, people have raised good questions such as: At this point, would we be doing more harm than good by pulling out U.S. troops? Don’t we have an obligation now to stay on and ensure that Iraqis will be safe? These are important questions that deserve a thoughtful response.

BPF has voiced opposition to this war from the beginning. In the fall and winter of 2002, BPF members joined with hundreds of thousands of people around the globe to try to prevent this war. A number of us took part in acts of civil disobedience in an effort to express the depth of our commitment to peace. In March 2003, as the conflict began, the Buddhist Peace Fellowship issued a statement that included these words:

There will be no victors in this war between the United States and Iraq. But there will be many victims all around the world. Behind all the posturing and lies and guns, there are contending and unspoken illusions of American Empire and a pan-Arab empire led by Iraq. Empire bestows privileges on a few and suffering on many. In accord with the Buddha’s truth of impermanence, empires fall…without exception. We cannot put faith in empire, in wealth, in homeland security, or in our leaders’ dissembling words. Security is only found when we recognize that all beings wish happiness, health, and meaningful life as we do.

Then, as now, we are committed to the truth in the Buddha’s teaching: “Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love.” Or, as a latter day bodhisattva A.J. Muste said, “There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.”

From a political perspective, we recognize the complexities in the situation in Iraq. I have a great deal of respect for the work and analysis of the Institute for Policy Studies, based in Washington DC. Erik Leaver, a research fellow at the IPS, elucidates the bottom line in Iraq: The occupation is driving the resistance. Leaver writes,

The President’s plan only further deepens the reach of U.S. occupation. Bush calls for U.S. involvement in the Iraqi political process, increasing security and economic development. But as the U.S. plants its bootprints more firmly in Iraqi society, it only serves the purposes of inflaming the insurgency…A true plan for victory would recognize this, detail a plan of turning Iraq over to Iraqis, and start bringing the troops home. This is the only way victory can be achieved in Iraq.

[The full text of Leaver’s article can be found here: www.ips-dc.org]

As a progressive organization that respects that right to self-determination of all people, BPF has maintained from the beginning that the March 2003 U.S. invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq was illegal and, from a spiritual point of view, immoral. It has become more clear over time that the reasons originally used by the Bush Administration to justify this invasion were based on false information. Whether that information was intentionally manipulated or not remains to be proven.

Whatever the case, we believe that there were more avenues of nonviolent conflict resolution that could and should have been used in Iraq to address the issue of Saddam Hussein’s despotic rule, rather than resorting to a violent, massive armed invasion. Ultimately, the people who have suffered the most from this action have been innocent Iraqi men, women, and children, as well as the more than 2,000 U.S. military personnel who have been killed and countless more who have been wounded both physically and psychologically. The main benefactors of this war have been corporations who have profited from its implementation and aftermath.

This great injustice must be stopped, and we must work to prevent it happening in other countries. In order to do so, U.S. troops must be withdrawn as soon as possible. I would add that provisions should also be made to make reparations to the Iraqi people, and to provide them with support, as they request it, from civil and non-governmental organizations to re-build their society in the way they see fit, and from a global peacekeeping force -- again if requested.

Many thanks for all your efforts for peace and justice. As Robert Aitken Roshi, one of BPF’s founders, reminded me when I recently visited him in Hawai’i, there is  no Buddhism that is not engaged. The buddhadharma is nothing if not about realizing our interconnection with all beings and, therefore, our deep obligation to listen to the suffering of the world and to offer our best response.

In the dharma,

Maia Duerr

BPF Executive Director