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NEWS & LETTERS, December 2002
'Mirror of Truth' tour
Memphis, Tenn.--The Mirror of Truth bus tour began Sept. 12
in New York City and concluded in Columbus, Georgia, at the School of the
Americas protest on Nov. 17. The tour was a project of Voices in the Wilderness
(VIW), a Chicago-based group of nonviolent war resisters dedicated to ending the
economic sanctions and continuing war against the people of Iraq. The Mirror of Truth Tour visited schools, universities,
churches, and peace groups to speak out against a new war against Iraq. Members
of the tour came from all across the country. The tour also challenged Americans to acknowledge the
weapons of mass destruction that are here in the U.S. If our government is going
to attack Iraq preemptively because of weapons of mass destruction, we as
Americans should "look in the mirror" and question why we have so many
of these destructive weapons. The tour visited sites where the U.S. produces, stores, and
researches weapons of mass destruction, and participated in vigils and protests
with the communities of people who are resisting these weapons that are in their
backyards. About 50 people participated in a protest at Picatinny Arsenal in
Morristown, N.J. Picatinny Arsenal developed depleted uranium for use on the
battlefield in the first Gulf War. In Memphis 40 people protested the former Defense Depot,
where chemical weapons were stored for decades. The former Depot remains a
superfund site, and an activity center is going to be built for children here.
Local groups (Youth Terminating Pollution, Defense Depot Memphis
Tennessee-Concerned Citizens Committee, News and Letters Committees and Peace
Action) organized the event, which drew an enthusiastic crowd of young and old,
Black and white. We in the tour met hundreds of people involved in working against the war while building safe and healthy communities at home. In Carlisle, Pa. (home of the Army War College) 30 people signed the Iraq Pledge of Resistance--to engage in civil disobedience should the U.S. begin an invasion of Iraq--on the steps of the court house and explained their convictions to people on the street. A presentation at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., drew
over 200 students. Over 100 New York University students attended the
presentation and split into small groups to talk about what forms of action to
take. Two weeks later, a group of NYU students took over a live broadcast at
MTV, speaking truth about why the war is a bad idea, and wearing shirts that
said "No war against Iraq." Plans are in the making for continuing the tour by taking
it southwest, and continuing up the west coast. For more information, check the
Voices in the Wilderness website www.vitw.org. |
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