Iowa peace and social justice community activists are taking it to the streets to protest the war in Ukraine.

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About 50 central-Iowa peace and social justice activists rallied against the war in Ukraine under gray skies in Des Moines on a cold and blustery March 6, Sunday afternoon.

"The world is in the most dangerous place. This is worse than the Cuban Missile Crisis," said BrianTerrell, a Catholic Worker of Maloy, IA.

"Back in October I was in Netherlands where I took part with Dutch friends digging a tunnel under a fence at Volkel Air Base, a Dutch base that has 20 US nuclear weapons on it. These American bombs are meant to be put on Dutch planes. The Dutch would drop them on Russia. In October, there was a huge mobilization, an exercise, all the NATO nations were participating. They were practicing, taking their fighters and bombers up to the Russian border and then turning around," said Terrell.

"What could go wrong and why would Russia mind?" asked Terrell.

"People say Ukraine has the right as a sovereign nation to associate with whom they want and of course they are, but you don't have the right, nobody has the right to move into your neighborhood, to move in next door, join a militia, and start driving by and tossing bombs at your house," said Terrell.

NATO is as much a suicide pact as a defense alliance, said Terrell. NATO has taken on roles that are not defensive. It was used to bomb Yugoslavia and it was used again to bomb Libya, the most advanced country in Africa with the highest standard of living. Libya gave up its nuclear weapons program, and then it got destroyed, said Terrell.

"Libya is now, because of the NATO attack, one of the poorest, most desperate, unstable, frightening places on the planet," said Terrell.

"What Putin did is inexcusable. It is something that everyone knew was going to happen sooner or later. Back in 1991 when Putin was still driving a cab, people were saying if we don't get rid of NATO, this is a time bomb," said Terrell.

The Russians have legitimate security concerns, said Terrell.

"I hate war," said Bob Brammer of Des Moines, a retired state government employee and longtime peace activist. "I think we are at serious risk not only of the terrible war that is already happening but of this escalating into a disastrous war."

Brammer expressed support for the Ukrainians fleeing war in their country, for refugees everywhere, and support, too, for those in Russia who are protesting the war at high risk, much higher risk than Americans who are protesting.

"I'm eager to have the US be a peace-loving country, moving away from war in places where we do have a big responsibility for it," said Brammer.

"I have my Ukrainian flag here, but I don't want to raise up any one country. I'm really disappointed in NATO's role. We have to imagine that this attack didn't happen in a vacuum. There are a lot of things that the US and NATO have done over the years that are provocative. The only way out of this is diplomacy," said Brammer.

Mary Caponi of Des Moines said she is thinking of all those who are in harm's way.

"I like most Americans am grieving for the victims of this invasion, but I also understand that our leaders have a role in it and I hope, I hope, that for the sake of all of us in the whole world that we work harder on diplomacy and less on ego," said Caponi.

"I just don't think cheerleading a war, even on behalf of innocent victims, is helpful," said Caponi.

Cameron Hart said he is against all wars, especially when there is the potential for use of nuclear weapons.

"It doesn't matter whether it's our aggression or someone else's. There is a lot more context to this situation that we need to be considering, instead of trying to ramp up and escalate," said Hart.

"Nuclear powers are involved. Definitely would like to see future generations enjoy this planet. So, I'm here in solidarity with all the people. The people never win when it comes to war. It's always other interests that take precedence," said Hart.

Mona Gude said she came to the rally to support all those who are resisting the war.

"I support the resisters!" said Gude.

Activist and organizer Kathleen McQuillen spoke of the complexities the war.

"We're out here because we care deeply about what is happening to the Ukrainian people. We are appalled at what Russia has done, but we fully understand that the United States and NATO are complicit in this," said McQuillen.

"The United States and NATO have been pushing Russia for a long time, and [Russian leaders] have pleaded for NATO not to take any more members on their borders. The United States is pushing that. We want to open up the dialog and make it clear: Russia is not the only culprit here," said McQuillen.

"When do we get to the point where we recognize everybody's security concerns? Everyone's security concerns deserve to be addressed. We should have negotiated this and not let it get to this point," said McQuillen.

"Increasingly, people understand that this is not a 'one bad guy' action.

"We want the United States to take responsibility to push for negotiations, give everybody voice, and recognize the common need for security," said McQuillen.

The Iowa peace and social justice activism community, many of its members having been sidelined by the pandemic for two years, is once again coming together and taking it to the streets.

Authors Bio:

Michael Gillespie writes regularly about peace and social justice issues. A 1999 graduate of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Iowa State University, he was inducted a member of Kappa Tau Alpha, the national honor society of journalism and mass communications. He has previously worked for Washington Report on Middle East Affaurs, The Independent Monitor, WUOT-fm, the University of Tennesee at Knoxville NPR affiliate station, and as project director for community radio station WDVX-fm. His reportage has been broadcast internationally by Swiss Radio International. He co-founded the Knoxville (TN) Writers Guild in 1993, served as Executive Director of the Tennessee Writers Alliance (1995), and as vice-chair and chair of the Ames (IA) Interfaith Council (2003-2006).