Wars Against Terrorism and Wars of TerrorismPublished January 2002
by Michael Connelly mconnel5@rochester.rr.com
"If any government sponsors the outlaws and killers of innocents, they have become outlaws and murderers themselves. And they will take that lonely path at their own peril."
President George W. Bush on the day bombing in Afghanistan began.
My youngest son, Ben and I joined 13 others from the Rochester region this November to join the protest against the SOA at the gates of Ft. Benning in Columbus, Georgia.
You know, traveling 20 hours by van, "dying in" on a dusty Georgia road for several hours, expecting to be arrested and jailed by Georgia sheriffs, living several days on p.b.j. sandwiches courtesy of Tom Malthaner -- it doesn't get any better than this.
And it is so simple: It's the company! A four day holiday away from the presumed 85 (or 98) percent of folks who, apparently, think bombing Afghanistan is fun and good. Two of these days are spent with ten thousand wonderful folks who really do object to terrorism whether it is sponsored by a foreign entity against us or by us against Latin Americans. For all the fascinating diversity and colorfulness of those present, there is a consistency in their view of terrorism: it's bad. Period.
We rode to wonderfully sunny Georgia in a House of Mercy van with Sister Grace of House of Mercy. She's a wee bit more fiery than the average nun. County Manager Jack Doyle doesn't think she is an average nun. But then he should accord the poor the same consideration he gives to a Greece soccer complex. At least Sister Grace thinks so. Apparently, she has on several occasions impressed this point on Mr. Doyle.
Tom Malthaner is equally dedicated to serving the poor. He is permanent staff at St. Joseph's House of Hospitality. Hospitality flows from Tom like water from a spring. No one makes more p.b.j. sandwiches than Tom. And Tom's commitment to deep biblical hospitality goes well beyond p.b.j. Biblical hospitality is deep in his bones. He made the arrangements for food and lodging, hosted a wonderful reunion for us at St. Joe's. I love the biblical stories about hospitality, and now when I think of them I think of Tom.
Most of you may know John Honek. I have more pretentiousness in my little finger than John has in his entire body. When you are around him you start to feel that of course every normal citizen would be eager to spend time in Federal prison as John did for a previous SOA protest. There is something so down to earth about John's demeanor that I kept doing a double take when we were talking about movies in the van. He knows every actor and director that ever came near a sound stage.
Ben and Lorene Dumoulin infused us old guys with a spirit of youth and vitality. What fun they were! Lorene led in the creation of a wondrous, large sun puppet that we took to Georgia. This puppet was my favorite creature in all of Georgia. It was apparently the favorite creature of photographer Linda Panetta as well. Linda is a fabulous photographer, and you can check her SOA pictures out for yourself at (www.soaw.org). For years I have rather hated protesting. Too much exposure, too little anonymity. From Ben, Lorene and the puppets I have found the fun in it. Even the solemn procession of Sunday had a joyful quality.
To me the protest had two aspects; A kind of wild and energizing celebration of life in the ball park on Saturday and a solemn 4 hour plus funeral procession on Sunday. For four hours the names of murdered Latin American men, women and children are called out. For four hours, 10,000 mourners in procession, each holding a white cross, raise their crosses and respond "presente" to each name. In my lifetime I have never experienced such a powerful, moving and haunting ceremony.
Ten thousand persons processed to the gate at Fort Benning and placed 10,000 white crosses and other momentos to the dead in the fence there creating an indescribable and altogether appropriate tribute to these murdered persons of the Americas. Ten thousand crosses seemed to cry out, "Why did you murder me?"
I heard it said that a soldier inside the gate had said he thought the weight of the crosses might collapse the fence. Over a fifty or 100 foot span of ten foot chain link fence the less than fifty pounds or so of crosses of course could not bring down the fence. So what do you suppose this soldier may have seen or felt, perhaps unbeknownst to himself?
Perhaps it is the dawning of a truth only visible through the medium of protest.
A 20 minute video has just been released by SOA Watch, "SOA, Guns and Greed," which powerfully presents the non-violent movement to close the school, and succinctly makes the connections to corporate and military power. A copy can be borrowed from the Metro Justice office, and you are encouraged to show it to community and religious groups.