The past year wasn’t such a great one for peace activists.
But 2007 could prove to be a major change from the recent past.
At least, that’s what George Martin is predicting for the next year.
The Milwaukee peace activist, program director for Peace Action Wisconsin, said he hopes to see a commitment from the Bush Administration to some kind of schedule for withdrawing the troops from Iraq, if not the region.
But in light of the announcement Dec. 20 by the president that the nation needs to increase the ‘permanent size’ of both the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps, there is some room to doubt that the path to peace starts in 2007.
A lot of Martin’s optimism stems from the change from a Republican to a Democratic Congress in the November elections.
“We are claiming the victory on the positive end … for the peace movement,” he said of the change.
Martin was also pleased with the election results nationally and statewide on “Bring the Troops Home” referendums. Every one of the 10 referendums in Wisconsin saw overwhelming support to bring home the troops, including a 72 percent “yes” vote in Milwaukee.
Peace Action Wisconsin, which describes itself as an “activist center focusing on pacifist and activist resistance to violent actions in the United States and the world,” has worked for the changes in Wisconsin.
Martin is also the national co-chair of United for Peace and Justice, a group which held an anti-war rally of nearly 600,000 people on Sept. 28 in Washington, D.C. UFPJ is the coordinator of more than 1,400 groups that favor and end to the war, including Milwaukee and Wisconsin groups.
Martin is working on a rally for the nation’s capitol on Jan. 27 that he hopes will surpass the last effort. A Saturday march will be followed up by a visit by the protestors to their offices of their Congressional leaders on the following Monday.
“In September, we had more than 40 people from U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl’s district in his office,” he said.
Martin said the efforts have not yet borne fruit but said he was optimistic “because we have had more people (protesting)in the streets than we did during the Vietnam War. During that war, it took eight years tom reach the point where we had a majority sentiment against the war. Reaching that point in this war has taken only four years.”
Martin said he hopes 2007 will bring a commitment to a scheduled, phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
“I would also like to see stability in the entire Middle East, with addressing the underlying causes of the war there, like the war between Israel and its neighbors,” Martin said. “I would also like to see us shift our priorities to the needs of our country, such as creating a national health care system.”
Martin said with a recent poll showing that a great majority of Americans want the war to end, 2007 could just be the pivotal year in turning the Iraq conflict around.
Besides ending the war and returning the troops, UFPJ also seeks Iraq’s ability to practice self-determination and calls for “reconstruction of and reparations to Iraq, in accordance with international law.”
Martin admitted that he might not see all his predictions and hopes fulfilled in 2007. At his Dec. 20 press conference, Bush admitted that victory in Iraq “hasn’t happened nearly as quickly as I thought it would.”
But he still believes that most Americans “don’t want us to retreat now.”
That could change if 2007 brings the same amount of casualties suffered as in 2006.
But 2007 could prove to be a major change from the recent past.
At least, that’s what George Martin is predicting for the next year.
The Milwaukee peace activist, program director for Peace Action Wisconsin, said he hopes to see a commitment from the Bush Administration to some kind of schedule for withdrawing the troops from Iraq, if not the region.
But in light of the announcement Dec. 20 by the president that the nation needs to increase the ‘permanent size’ of both the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps, there is some room to doubt that the path to peace starts in 2007.
A lot of Martin’s optimism stems from the change from a Republican to a Democratic Congress in the November elections.
“We are claiming the victory on the positive end … for the peace movement,” he said of the change.
Martin was also pleased with the election results nationally and statewide on “Bring the Troops Home” referendums. Every one of the 10 referendums in Wisconsin saw overwhelming support to bring home the troops, including a 72 percent “yes” vote in Milwaukee.
Peace Action Wisconsin, which describes itself as an “activist center focusing on pacifist and activist resistance to violent actions in the United States and the world,” has worked for the changes in Wisconsin.
Martin is also the national co-chair of United for Peace and Justice, a group which held an anti-war rally of nearly 600,000 people on Sept. 28 in Washington, D.C. UFPJ is the coordinator of more than 1,400 groups that favor and end to the war, including Milwaukee and Wisconsin groups.
Martin is working on a rally for the nation’s capitol on Jan. 27 that he hopes will surpass the last effort. A Saturday march will be followed up by a visit by the protestors to their offices of their Congressional leaders on the following Monday.
“In September, we had more than 40 people from U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl’s district in his office,” he said.
Martin said the efforts have not yet borne fruit but said he was optimistic “because we have had more people (protesting)in the streets than we did during the Vietnam War. During that war, it took eight years tom reach the point where we had a majority sentiment against the war. Reaching that point in this war has taken only four years.”
Martin said he hopes 2007 will bring a commitment to a scheduled, phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
“I would also like to see stability in the entire Middle East, with addressing the underlying causes of the war there, like the war between Israel and its neighbors,” Martin said. “I would also like to see us shift our priorities to the needs of our country, such as creating a national health care system.”
Martin said with a recent poll showing that a great majority of Americans want the war to end, 2007 could just be the pivotal year in turning the Iraq conflict around.
Besides ending the war and returning the troops, UFPJ also seeks Iraq’s ability to practice self-determination and calls for “reconstruction of and reparations to Iraq, in accordance with international law.”
Martin admitted that he might not see all his predictions and hopes fulfilled in 2007. At his Dec. 20 press conference, Bush admitted that victory in Iraq “hasn’t happened nearly as quickly as I thought it would.”
But he still believes that most Americans “don’t want us to retreat now.”
That could change if 2007 brings the same amount of casualties suffered as in 2006.
