True will vote for peace

Sometimes it seems impossible to oppose the forces of militarism in our nation and our world. One thing I have done is sign the on-line “Peace Pledge”: not to vote for any candidate who supports the war in Iraq, no matter their party affiliation. In Minnesota house and senate races, Jim Oberstar and Amy Klobuchar are peace candidates I can wholeheartedly support.

But, what about closer to home, here in Cook County? How does our local election affect peace in the world? Peace is a process, a commitment, and it takes a lot of hard work, beginning with efforts to solve problems among nations, warring factions, and even neighbors. The first step is personal; the next is local, then national and international commitments to all people in our world. I don’t believe there is any “axis of evil.” All nations and all cultures love their children. They all want good lives. And when they are the victims of prejudice, racism, religious intolerance, wars of aggression, and civilian “collateral damage,” their grief and their rage become limitless. That doesn’t make them bad people. Two days ago, a bride and groom and 20 members of the wedding party were slaughtered in Iraq. What if that had happened in Grand Marais?

The bridge to tolerance is about building compassion and love. It is not about militarization of peaceful borders, or pre-emptive attacks on countries we don’t happen to approve of that don’t pose us any military threat. In fact, that just increases the hatred by innocent victims of our ruthless violence. Most people in Canada and Britain consider the United States to be a worse threat to peace than Al Quaeda. Does this tell you something?

A recent letter from Toivo Kuvamias described how a series of official vehicles slowly circled two peaceably picnicking Pakistani families in the Coast Guard parking lot. This post got some really negative response. Why? There really isn’t any reason except prejudice against dark-skinned people.

Peace is all about connections. Building wire fences and helicopter pads, installing spy technology in the Boundary Waters, playing war games on our lake with polluting metals, all of this and more make people fearful without cause and thereby generate a climate of aggressiveness and mistrust. There never has been a single terrorist who has crossed the U.S.-Canadian border. Nobody is attacking the Great Lakes, and in fact, we have a treaty with Canada that does not allow weapons of war on the borders. The Coast Guard maneuvers are not, in fact, about guarding the lakes but rather about training for war against Iran. This is what the Bush administration wants, a sure guarantee of World War III. Dubya himself welcomes nuclear war in the Middle East, according to sources close to him. He thinks it will be the Rapture, the Second Coming. That our children might die does not concern him at all.

The Department of Homeland Security, created by ultra-right wing neoconservatives who control the presidency in order to foment a permanent state of war against that bogeyman, “terrorism,” now supervises 22 agencies including the Coast Guard and the Border Patrol. These folks used to rescue boaters in distress and catch the odd smuggler or two trying to cross the border with ill-gotten gains. Now, their mission is to spy on everybody, to pollute the lakes and the border with heavy metals, electronic signals, lights in the boreal sky, and plane and vehicle noise.

In Grand Marais, a group of concerned citizens have joined with other lake and border communities in protest against the top-down imposition of the military rule of Homeland Security. Mayor Sandbo recently stated at a public meeting that he supports the Homeland proposal to build a 10-acre facility with holding cells, helicopter pad, and 50 border agents even if all the people in the county oppose it. Councilor Spry as always agrees with Sandbo. Candidates Evelyn Larsen, Bill Lenz and Kay Costello have agreed to listen to citizen concerns about the new facility as well as the live-fire war games in the absurdly named “safety zone” outside of Grand Marais harbor.

Please, vote for peace. Vote with me to support peaceful solutions and stop the militarization of Cook County and Lake Superior.

True