The Past...the Present...lessons for the Future!

The Past...

...the Present...

...lessons for the Future!

As we look into the year 2000, several anniversaries of significance will occur this summer. We'd like to take a look at these anniversaries, not only from the historical perspective but also for their impact on the people of this country and on the people of the world. These anniversaries hold many lessons for those of us working for a new and better future, lessons we can apply to the struggles of today as well as those of tomorrow.
The first one is the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War, June 25, 1950. At the beginning of that war, the people in this country, as a whole, did not question the government's reasons for that war. Still fresh from the "victories" of World War II and because, for the most part, people still genuinely believed that they saved the world from fascism, these same people were willing to believe what they were told by the government. Additionally, the U.S., sitting unchallenged on top of the imperialist heap, believed that it could dictate the outcome of this conflict on its own terms-both militarily and politically. However, as we know from history and are learning from the recent revelations like the massacre at No Gun Ri, the U.S. was not as "right" as it had hoped its "might" would indicate. One impact of this war was that the veneer of the U.S. as the world's defender of "freedom and democracy" was irreparably torn and its imperialist nature was revealed for all to see.

Kent State, 1975

Next we have the 30th anniversaries of the murders of students at Kent and Jackson States, in early May, 1970. During the twenty years since Korea, changes had begun to take place within the U.S. from which there was no turning back. People were no longer willing to "sit by the radio" and listen to the government's version of the reasons for why events were happening in the world. Students, influenced by the revolutionary struggles around the world, were challenging old ideas and current military interventions. Spilling off campuses, the students mingled with the rising awareness of feminism, the growing anti-war movement-which was being significantly influenced by returning veterans-and the unrelenting civil rights struggle demanding the creation of a different world, one with equality, justice and peace. Together these struggles were one part of the impetus for a growing critical skepticism of the government that reached even into the heart of the middle class. These rumblings threatened the government to such a point it felt it necessary to shoot down its own citizens in cold-blooded murder. However, the challenge to its control came from two sides: inside the borders-as the fabric of its lies and deceptions was being unraveled by the actions of the students-and outside the borders-as the situation in Vietnam grew more desperate for the U.S. The influence of the resistance of the Vietnamese people was spreading to other peoples and countries and people were beginning to catch a glimpse of the possibility of a future without U.S. imperialism. Yet as desperate as the situation was, the U.S. war would continue on in Vietnam for five more years.

The third anniversary is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, April 30, 1975. This date represents a historic moment in the struggle against imperialism-the defeat of the U.S. at the hands of the people of Vietnam. This defeat solidified the possibility of a future without the U.S. in the hearts and minds of oppressed people around the world. This legacy has shaped and influenced liberation struggles-both inside and outside the borders of the U.S. Inside, the battles over the legacy of Vietnam has been characterized by their desperate attempts to rewrite history: movies like The Deerhunter-with its "the horrors of this nasty war made me do it" explanation for the actions of crazed Vietnam veterans, or the Rambo series-where the "lost sheep" warrior does what it takes to be welcomed back into the imperial fold; or with monuments like the "Wall" in Washington, D.C.-whose existence is supposed to convince us that "deep down" those who sent us off to kill and be killed really do care about us; or with books like MacNamara's "tell all" about Vietnam where we are supposed to believe that he was really against the war-as he formulated policies that resulted in the deaths of thousands upon thousands, on both sides of the war. The battlefield over the legacy exists on many different fronts-socially, cultural, political and even militarily-as the imperialists work to shape not only our opinions of what happened but also to structure their laws and their polices' ability to enforce them.
Outside its borders, the U.S. found itself in a shrinking world. The cold war with the Soviet Union, contention with Europe and Japan, and people's liberation struggles removed large sections of the world from its sphere of direct influence, leading to increased tension and desperation. The period was characterized less by overt military intervention and more by covert interventions-proxy wars became a common tool in the imperialist arsenal. As the world shrank, the U.S. was forced to re-enact a 20th century version of the Monroe doctrine in an attempt to keep the western hemisphere under its control.

Vietnamese fighter captures U.S. pilot

The collapse of the Soviet Union brought about another change to the world stage and new opportunities for the U.S. imperialists. The covert became overt as the U.S. ushered in the new world order with the war on Iraq. This brings us to the last of the anniversaries, the tenth anniversary of the sanctions against Iraq August 6, 1990, and the 46th anniversary of the mass murder of the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The irony of these atrocious acts by the U.S. is not limited to the close proximity of their dates but also that each was put forward as the "humane" thing to do. In the case of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the government said that it would bring an end to the war-in spite of the fact that Japan was ready to surrender and the war was basically over. With the sanctions against Iraq, the official U.S. line was that they would be a humane alternative to war. However, four months later the U.S. war machine rained death and destruction down of the people of Iraq in a magnitude never before witnessed. Since then, the continued "humane" sanctions have resulted in the deaths of thousands each month, mainly infants, children and the elderly.
The reality is that the Gulf War then and the sanctions now are not about Saddam Hussein but are about control and the need to show the rest of the world what lengths the U.S. is willing to go to in order to stay on top of the imperialist heap.
Throughout all of this, people, both within these borders and outside, have not taken all of this lying down. From the beginning, individuals and organizations have opposed the sanctions and taken action to end them. People like Philip Berrigan, Kathy Kelly, Ramsey Clark and Howard Zinn and organizations like Voices in the Wilderness, the International Action Center, Swords to Plowshares, Veterans For Peace, and our organization VVAW AI, have actively worked to educate people to the true nature and consequences of the sanctions, to outright oppose the sanctions by bringing medicine to the people of Iraq and to put the U.S. government on notice that they will not go unchallenged.
The importance of looking at anniversaries is not just to remember the past but to learn from it and apply those lessons to the struggles of the present and the future. The policies and actions of this system-U.S. imperialism-are destroying life and our future the world over. The present needs us to apply these lessons if we are to have a future worth something for people. As Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Edward Herman, and Edward Said recently stated in their national statement, "The time has come for a call to action to people of conscience. We are past the point where silence is passive consent-when a crime reaches these proportions, silence is complicity." This complicity becomes even more insidious given the lessons that we have learned over the last fifty years.
We, in VVAW AI, stand with all of those who have come before us in the struggle against U.S. imperialism-both within the U.S. borders and in countries around the world-and shed their blood, sweat, tears and even lives in payment for these lessons. We vow to apply these lessons to the struggles of today and to take them into the future as we work towards a world free from imperialism.


The Past...
	...the Present...
		...lessons for the Future!
As we look into the year 2000, several anniversaries of significance will occur this summer. We'd like to take a look at these anniversaries, not only from the historical perspective but also for their impact on the people of this country and on the people of the world. These anniversaries hold many lessons for those of us working for a new and better future, lessons we can apply to the struggles of today as well as those of tomorrow. The first one is the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War, June 25, 1950. At the beginning of that war, the people in this country, as a whole, did not question the government's reasons for that war. Still fresh from the "victories" of World War II and because, for the most part, people still genuinely believed that they saved the world from fascism, these same people were willing to believe what they were told by the government. Additionally, the U.S., sitting unchallenged on top of the imperialist heap, believed that it could dictate the outcome of this conflict on its own terms-both militarily and politically. However, as we know from history and are learning from the recent revelations like the massacre at No Gun Ri, the U.S. was not as "right" as it had hoped its "might" would indicate. One impact of this war was that the veneer of the U.S. as the world's defender of "freedom and democracy" was irreparably torn and its imperialist nature was revealed for all to see.
Kent State, 1975		Next we have the 30th anniversaries of the murders of students at Kent and Jackson States, in early May, 1970. During the twenty years since Korea, changes had begun to take place within the U.S. from which there was no turning back. People were no longer willing to "sit by the radio" and listen to the government's version of the reasons for why events were happening in the world. Students, influenced by the revolutionary struggles around the world, were challenging old ideas and current military interventions. Spilling off campuses, the students mingled with the rising awareness of feminism, the growing anti-war movement-which was being significantly influenced by returning veterans-and the unrelenting civil rights struggle demanding the creation of a different world, one with equality, justice and peace. Together these struggles were one part of the impetus for a growing critical skepticism of the government that reached even into the heart of the middle class. These rumblings threatened the government to such a point it felt it necessary to shoot down its own citizens in cold-blooded murder. However, the challenge to its control came from two sides: inside the borders-as the fabric of its lies and deceptions was being unraveled by the actions of the students-and outside the borders-as the situation in Vietnam grew more desperate for the U.S. The influence of the resistance of the Vietnamese people was spreading to other peoples and countries and people were beginning to catch a glimpse of the possibility of a future without U.S. imperialism. Yet as desperate as the situation was, the U.S. war would continue on in Vietnam for five more years.
The third anniversary is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, April 30, 1975. This date represents a historic moment in the struggle against imperialism-the defeat of the U.S. at the hands of the people of Vietnam. This defeat solidified the possibility of a future without the U.S. in the hearts and minds of oppressed people around the world. This legacy has shaped and influenced liberation struggles-both inside and outside the borders of the U.S. Inside, the battles over the legacy of Vietnam has been characterized by their desperate attempts to rewrite history: movies like The Deerhunter-with its "the horrors of this nasty war made me do it" explanation for the actions of crazed Vietnam veterans, or the Rambo series-where the "lost sheep" warrior does what it takes to be welcomed back into the imperial fold; or with monuments like the "Wall" in Washington, D.C.-whose existence is supposed to convince us that "deep down" those who sent us off to kill and be killed really do care about us; or with books like MacNamara's "tell all" about Vietnam where we are supposed to believe that he was really against the war-as he formulated policies that resulted in the deaths of thousands upon thousands, on both sides of the war. The battlefield over the legacy exists on many different fronts-socially, cultural, political and even militarily-as the imperialists work to shape not only our opinions of what happened but also to structure their laws and their polices' ability to enforce them. Outside its borders, the U.S. found itself in a shrinking world. The cold war with the Soviet Union, contention with Europe and Japan, and people's liberation struggles removed large sections of the world from its sphere of direct influence, leading to increased tension and desperation. The period was characterized less by overt military intervention and more by covert interventions-proxy wars became a common tool in the imperialist arsenal. As the world shrank, the U.S. was forced to re-enact a 20th century version of the Monroe doctrine in an attempt to keep the western hemisphere under its control.			Vietnamese fighter captures U.S. pilot
The collapse of the Soviet Union brought about another change to the world stage and new opportunities for the U.S. imperialists. The covert became overt as the U.S. ushered in the new world order with the war on Iraq. This brings us to the last of the anniversaries, the tenth anniversary of the sanctions against Iraq August 6, 1990, and the 46th anniversary of the mass murder of the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The irony of these atrocious acts by the U.S. is not limited to the close proximity of their dates but also that each was put forward as the "humane" thing to do. In the case of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the government said that it would bring an end to the war-in spite of the fact that Japan was ready to surrender and the war was basically over. With the sanctions against Iraq, the official U.S. line was that they would be a humane alternative to war. However, four months later the U.S. war machine rained death and destruction down of the people of Iraq in a magnitude never before witnessed. Since then, the continued "humane" sanctions have resulted in the deaths of thousands each month, mainly infants, children and the elderly. The reality is that the Gulf War then and the sanctions now are not about Saddam Hussein but are about control and the need to show the rest of the world what lengths the U.S. is willing to go to in order to stay on top of the imperialist heap. Throughout all of this, people, both within these borders and outside, have not taken all of this lying down. From the beginning, individuals and organizations have opposed the sanctions and taken action to end them. People like Philip Berrigan, Kathy Kelly, Ramsey Clark and Howard Zinn and organizations like Voices in the Wilderness, the International Action Center, Swords to Plowshares, Veterans For Peace, and our organization VVAW AI, have actively worked to educate people to the true nature and consequences of the sanctions, to outright oppose the sanctions by bringing medicine to the people of Iraq and to put the U.S. government on notice that they will not go unchallenged. The importance of looking at anniversaries is not just to remember the past but to learn from it and apply those lessons to the struggles of the present and the future. The policies and actions of this system-U.S. imperialism-are destroying life and our future the world over. The present needs us to apply these lessons if we are to have a future worth something for people. As Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Edward Herman, and Edward Said recently stated in their national statement, "The time has come for a call to action to people of conscience. We are past the point where silence is passive consent-when a crime reaches these proportions, silence is complicity." This complicity becomes even more insidious given the lessons that we have learned over the last fifty years. We, in VVAW AI, stand with all of those who have come before us in the struggle against U.S. imperialism-both within the U.S. borders and in countries around the world-and shed their blood, sweat, tears and even lives in payment for these lessons. We vow to apply these lessons to the struggles of today and to take them into the future as we work towards a world free from imperialism.