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NEWS & LETTERS, May 2004War comes homeEvanston, Ill.-- "The only reason my son could speak out is because people like us are watching his back." The speaker is a military mom and her son is serving in Iraq and opposed to the U.S. occupation of that country. "People like us" includes all the mothers who share that sentiment and are speaking out against the occupation at home. They are members of the growing organization of families with relatives deployed to Iraq. Military Families Speak Out attracted several parents, spouses, and their supporters to a meeting here April 18 at the Northminster Presbyterian Church. The church was filled as founders Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson from Boston described how, in November 2002, two families of soldiers headed for Iraq voiced their opposition to the looming invasion. "We opposed a war for oil markets and empire-building, and felt there must be others who felt the same way we did," recalled Lessin. A year and a half after MFSO’s founding, some 1,500 families belong, with more joining after hearing about local meetings like this one. Fran Jones of MFSO in Chicago spoke with anger about what the war and occupation has done to her son in the Marines and the generation of youth like him. "What will they have to do or witness?" she asked. "This war is up close and personal and it is killing our youth." "It’s a ‘just war’ when Bush and Congress are sending your kids to Iraq," Richardson quipped. He also told of hearing an Iraqi who declared that getting rid of Saddam Hussein was a good thing, like an exterminator getting rid of the rats. But once the rats are gone, why does the exterminator have to move into the home and beat up the family? Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky reminded the meeting that the minority which voted not to invade Iraq was not a small one. An aunt whose nephew was killed in action told how the teenager was recruited. "The recruiters pursued him since the age of 16 with calls to the home. He joined because he was told he would get an education. Is there anything being done to prevent the pursuit of minors who believe all the good things the recruiters say, who say you are their best buddy and then put your life in danger, against the wishes of the parents?’ Contact MFSO at 617 522 9323 or www.mfso.org. --J.O. |
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