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But those documents don't stand alone. Clinton also rejected the Goldstone Report's criticism of Israel's bloody attack on Gaza in 2008-09; she waffled on Israel's fatal commando raid on a Turkish relief flotilla on its way to Gaza in 2010; and she rallied to the defense of Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011 when Israeli leaders raised alarms about what might follow him.
In February 2011, Clinton oversaw the casting of the U.S. veto to kill a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Israel to stop colonizing territories it occupied in 1967. That vote was 14 to 1, marking the first such veto by the Obama administration. Netanyahu was quick to state that he "deeply appreciated" the U.S. stance.
Silent Witness
In the face of such callous disregard for what the Founders called "a decent respect for the opinions of mankind," words failed me -- literally -- on Feb. 15.
The op-eds, the speeches, the interviews that I and others have done about needless war and feckless politicians may have done some good but, surely, they have not done enough. And America's Fawning Corporate Media (FCM) is the embodiment of a Fourth Estate that is dead in the water.
I counted about 20 TV cameras at the Clinton speech and reporters galore. Not one thought to come outside to watch what was happening to me, and zero reporting on the incident has found its way into the FCM, save a couple of brief and misleading accounts.
A Fox News story claimed that "a heckler interrupted" Clinton's speech and then "was escorted from the room." Fox News added that I "was, perhaps, trying to hold up a sign." CNN posted a brief clip with a similar insistence that I had "interrupted" Clinton's speech, though the video shows me saying nothing until after I'm dragged away (or "escorted") when I say, "So this is America." There also was no sign.
Disappointing, but not surprising. I guess I really do believe that the good is worth doing because it is good. It shouldn't matter that there is little or no guarantee of success -- or even a truthful recounting of what happened.
One of my friends, in a good-natured attempt to make light of my arrest and brief imprisonment, commented that I must be used to it by now. I thought of how anti-war prophet, Fr. Dan Berrigan, responded to that kind of observation in his testimony at the Plowshares Eight trial 31 years ago. I feel blessed by his witness and fully identify with what he said about "the push of conscience":
"With every cowardly bone in my body, I wished I hadn't had to do it. That has been true every time I have been arrested. My stomach turns over. I feel sick. I feel afraid. I hate jail. I don't do well there physically. But I have read that we must not kill. I have read that children, above all, are threatened by this. I have read that Christ our Lord underwent death rather than inflict it. And I'm supposed to be a disciple."The push of conscience is a terrible thing."
As Fr. Berrigan clearly understood, the suffering of the victims of war is so much worse than the shock and discomfort of arrest.
For her part, Sen. and/or Secretary Clinton seems never to have encountered a war that she didn't immediately embrace on behalf of some geopolitical justification, apparently following Henry Kissinger's dictum that soldiers are "just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy."
And beyond even the human suffering of those caught up in war, there's what's in store for the rest of us. As recent rhetoric and disclosures of leaked documents have made clear, what lies ahead is a permanent warfare state, including occupation of foreign lands and new military bases around the globe -- unless we have the courage to stand up this time.
Also to be expected will be the curtailment of our rights at home. "A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny," wrote Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn -- one who knew.
Perhaps we need to bear in mind that we are part of a long line of those who have taken a stand on these issues. As for those of us who have served abroad to protect the rights of U.S. citizens -- well, maybe we have a particular mandate to do what we can to keep protecting them.
For us Veterans for Peace, we've been there, done that. And so, enough already!
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