By: Mary Mostert, Analyst, Banner of Liberty (www.bannerofliberty.com)
February 7, 2003
As a former peace activist who successfully petitioned the 17 Nation Disarmament Conference in 1962 to halt the testing of nuclear bombs in the atmosphere, I am struck by how totally opposite today’s so-called “peace” movement thinking is to the thinking of those of us who were urging both the United States and Soviet Union leaders to agree to a test ban on testing nuclear bombs in the atmosphere. At the time I had four children from ages two to ten and joined 51 other American women that flew to Geneva, Switzerland to meet with several hundred women from other nations. Our message was simple. The Disarmament talks had stalled, bombs were being regularly tested in the atmosphere polluting the soil to such an extent that cancer and leukemia rates among children in polluted areas were sky-rocketing because of Strontium 90 from the tests. We wanted all above ground nuclear testing halted.
As we met with women from the Soviet Union, Great Britain and several European countries, be found we had a lot in common. We were all fearful of what would happen if the nuclear arms race continued between the two nations. We were all women who had lived through World War II and many had lost loved ones in the war. We wanted the test ban treaty in hopes that our children would be able to live their lives without the specter of nuclear annihilation or cancer from radiation hanging over their heads. In talking with the ambassadors of 17 nations at the Conference in Geneva we were told, “Your President (Kennedy) holds the key to the future.” So, we went to Washington, talked to members of Congress and tried to talk to President Kennedy, who refused to meet with us. However, we did finally get into the White House to meet with then Attorney General Bobby Kennedy, the president’s brother. We were told that President Kennedy had resumed testing nuclear bombs in the atmosphere, after more than two dozen underground tests, because he was “pressured by Congress and the military to resume tests.”
Congressmen pointed out their constituents supported the arms race. And, many constituents did support the arms race, especially those working at good paying jobs in the munitions industries. We began to realize that unless the American people spoke up, the world was caught on a “wild ride to a nuclear Armageddon.” We worked, successfully, explaining our concerns about Strontium 90 and encouraging the American people to speak up on the issue. And, they did. A year later the limited nuclear test ban treaty was signed and the previously reluctant U.S. Senate ratified it.
However, this is not the sort of thing the current so-called “peace activists” are doing. While I get daily letters from groups and even friends claiming to be “peace activists,” none of them come across to this seasoned peace activist as being the least bit interested in peace. All I hear from them is rhetoric OPPOSING President Bush and all efforts to stop Saddam Hussein from developing nuclear bombs, as he increases his stash of chemical and biological weapons, some of which he has already used to kill many thousands of his own people.
For example, the coalition that has planned recent so-called “peace” demonstrations, Act Now to Stop War & End Racism, (ANSWER) claims its demonstrations for next week, “…will send a clear message for peace, and hope that the people of the United States are equal to the monumental task of halting war. This is a position we in the US cannot abrogate, a moral duty we must undertake, and an historic responsibility that is primarily ours.” They believe stopping a war in Iraq requires President Bush to abandon any efforts to get Iraq to disarm, which is the exact opposite of our message in 1962. They explain:
“To that end, and to expand the essential efforts of peace, a crucial international conference with more than 400 delegates from around the world was held in Cairo, Egypt, on December 18-19, 2002, to launch an international movement to stop war and support self-determination for the Iraqi and the Palestinian people.”
And, just who ARE these so-called “peace activists?” According to the ANSWER website “A steering committee for the international campaign was established, headed by former president of Algeria, the legendary Ahmed Ben Bella, and two vice presidents, Elias Rashmawi of the ANSWER Coalition and the Free Palestine Alliance in the United States and John Rees of the Stop the War Coalition in Britain. Participants of the conference included delegates from at least 20 countries.”
The former president of Algeria heads this “peace” movement intent on ordering an American President to abandon disarmament efforts? Somehow, I don’t think so.
Another delegate is Ramsey Clark, former Attorney General for President Lyndon John, who founded the International Action Center that has launched a drive to impeach President Bush. Ramsey Clark’s legal sounding document accuses the President and others in his cabinet of “Ordering and directing a proclaimed ‘pre-emptive’, or ‘first strike’ war of aggression against Afghanistan.” The impeachment also is supposed to prevent “George W. Bush from engaging in a war of aggression against Iraq causing thousands of deaths.”
These so-called “peace activists” never condemn those who bombed the World Trade center and Pentagon, killing thousands, nor do they ever mention the more than 2 million Afghans who have returned to their homeland from other countries since Afghanistan was liberated from the clutches of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden or the American food that kept millions more from dying of starvation. They also never urge Saddam Hussein to abide by the disarmament agreement he signed after his failed attempt to seize control of most of the world’s known oil reserves in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. In fact every word they utter sounds as if Iraq’s propaganda department wrote it.
This is in stark contrast to the Women’s Strike for Peace trip to the 17 Nation Disarmament Conference in Geneva, Switzerland in 1962 that I participated in. We urged both the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R to stop testing nuclear bombs in the atmosphere and work towards disarmament. Where’s the balance in the current so-called “peace” movement? Why do they NEVER mention that Saddam Hussein not only HAS chemical and biological weapons, but has used them in his war with Iran, on the Kurds and had them ready to use on Americans in Desert Storm? They didn’t use them in Desert Storm primarily because the U.S. Marines that liberated Kuwait City moved so fast any attempt to gas the Americans would have also gassed Iraqi soldiers. I know. My son was the battalion surgeon for those Marines who seized the munitions dump where chemical weapons had been stored. When they drove into Kuwait City, the streets were lined with Kuwaitis cheering the arrival of the American Marines with smiles and tears of joy.
I can say categorically that those truly interested today in saving children and establishing peace do not support Saddam Hussein’s drive to keep his chemical and biological weapons as he works feverishly to develop his own nuclear bombs. The world leader who represents our best hope for world peace is President George W. Bush who is determined to disarm Saddam Hussein so he and his terrorist buddies cannot use weapons of mass destruction on American cities.
To comment: mmostert@bannerofliberty.com .
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