3094 Win Without War

Presented by Tom Andrews; Introduction by Rev. Dennis Davidson

Sponsor: UU Peace Fellowship

Prepared for UUA.org by: Mike McNaughton, Reporter; Jone Johnson Lewis, Editor

Rev. Dennis Davidson, president of the newly formed UU Peace Fellowship uupeace@uua.org introduced Tom Andrews, former congressman from Maine and now Executive Director of Win Without War (WWW). WWW is a coalition of 40 organizations, including the UUA. It was formed in 2002-3 to try to stop the Iraq war.

Tom Andrews described how the Iraq war is one manifestation of a radical foreign policy of US military dominance that includes pre-emptive action against any nation perceived to be a potential threat. The message to rogue nations is intended to be: one false move and you could end up like Saddam Hussein. Iran and North Korea have responded by strengthening their nuclear programs.

Within the US , we are falling seriously short of our military recruiting goal, even after we lowered the goal. Tom Andrews speculates we are on our way to reinstating the draft.

In painful detail, Tom laid out the dismal failures of our policies, and described the cost in terms of dollars, US lives, and Iraqi lives. And there is no end in sight.

What do we do now? There are no good solutions. However, WWW is supporting the "Homeward Bound Act" H.J. RES. 55 , which is sponsored by Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Walter Jones (R-NC). This bipartisan resolution would call for President Bush to announce by the end of 2005 a plan for withdrawal from Iraq . The WWW coalition is building momentum for this resolution.

Pressure from the voters is more important than pressure from the White House so we have to build a grass-roots movement. We already have a pair of ideological bookends, Dennis Kucinich and Walter Jones, in this unusual coalition, and the UUA has tremendous potential to strengthen this movement. UUs have always shown leadership in the great moral choices of our time. And now, we are in an extraordinary time of great opportunity and great danger. We must hold Congress accountable to hold the administration accountable. As Martin Luther King said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent." This war is not going to end from the top down, only when Congress feels heat from the voters.

Unitarian Universalist Association
25 Beacon St. | Boston, MA 02108 | 617-742-2100