Maine Activists Aren't Forgetting the Iraq War

by Bruce K. Gagnon

In recent months we Maine activists have stepped up our efforts to keep the war in Iraq on the minds of citizens in our state and in front of our congressional delegation.

Folks from Peace Action Maine, Veterans for Peace, and other groups carried out non-violent occupations of the Portland offices of Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, and Rep. Tom Allen. The five-hour office occupations were used to read the names of all U.S. GI's killed in Iraq as well as the names of an equivalent number of innocent Iraqi civilians who have been killed.

The goal of these occupations has been primarily to express opposition to the recent supplemental appropriations of another $80 billion for the war, to make a call for an immediate planned withdrawal (as expressed in the Woolsey resolution in the House of Representatives), and to request that the Maine delegation hold a town hall meeting on the war.

At the March 18 occupation of Tom Allen's office, artist Pat Wheeler from Deer Isle, brought a large banner she called the "Iraq War Cloth" and made X's as each name was read. She videotaped the five-hour occupation and afterward produced a dramatic 30-minute documentary about the action that ends with her consecrating the cloth with tea. The moving video has been shown on several cable TV stations in Maine and is getting great reviews. She is selling them for $10 each and we urge people to get them and show them locally. Contact Pat at: wheelpl@verizon.net

Friends around the state, led by Veterans for Peace member Dud Hendrick from Deer Isle, have picked up the call and have organized several visits to the offices of Collins, Snowe, and Mike Michaud in Bangor. Peter Stewart, from South Montville, has also been key in helping to organize visits to congressional offices in Bangor. As a result of these efforts, Rep. Mike Michaud has signed onto the Woolsey resolution in the house. Plans are being developed for continued office visits to the Bangor offices of all the elected officials.

After months of intense pressure on Tom Allen, he recently informed PAM President Karen Wainberg that he is willing to hold a town hall meeting on the war. (His office though has been slow to offer details.) We urge readers to continue to call Rep. Allen's office about holding a public event.

The son of Dexter and Gretchen Kamilewicz, Orrs Island residents, is soon to be sent to Iraq. The couple has been working hard to get churches in Maine engaged on the Iraq issue, and recently reported that they have been successful in getting permission to place tables for writing letters to our congressional delegation at a couple of churches following Sunday services. This, they hope, will spread as others learn about the effort. They are making the request for a town hall meeting a key point in the letters.

The war rages on and life goes on here in Maine. We plant our gardens, drive our kids around, and curse the price of gas. Some feel powerless to stop the war, while others try to block it from their minds. But we all know that our nation, with our hard-earned tax dollars, has created a colossal mess in Iraq. We must break out of our lethargy and find some way to take responsibility for ending the madness our nation has created. We urge everyone to keep writing letters to the editor, keep calling the offices of our congressional delegation, and to join or organize a delegation that visits the office of our elected officials. It is our war now. The sooner we act, the sooner it will end.

 

Back to: Summer 2005 Peace Talk