PEACE COUNCIL Local group opposes war

The group pledged to resist 'endless war' and erosion of civil liberties.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- After President Bush called for the creation of a centralized Cabinet department of homeland security, members and supporters of Peace Action Youngstown rose and recited in unison a pledge to resist the war on terrorism.
The pledge, recited at Peace Action's Broadway Street headquarters, was part of a national "Not in our name" campaign, in which more than 100 similar organizations across the country agreed months ago to take the same simultaneous pledge Thursday.
"It is our responsibility to resist the injustices done by our government in our names. Not in our name will you wage endless war. ... Not in our name will you invade countries, bomb civilians, kill more children. ... Not in our name will you erode the very freedoms you have claimed to fight for," the pledge says in part.
Causes
"We think the Bush war on terrorism does not target the causes of 9/11. The cause of 9/11 isn't rampant criminality. It's a world in which peace and justice are very far from the operating principles. In situations where people are desperate, you can imagine things like terrorism to be what they consider to be their only solutions," said Thomas Sabatini of Youngstown, a Peace Action member.
"In a complicated world, all security measures fail. The way to protect yourself is to create a world in which people don't want to lash out in murderous ways. When people are treated without basic human dignity, when they don't have basic human needs, and when they're basically treated as inhuman, they'll lash out in inhumane ways. The way to prevent another 9/11 is to create a world in which those conditions don't exist," he added.
After watching President Bush's televised speech projected onto a large screen Thursday evening, several of the 20 people at the gathering expressed concerns about what they saw as the implications of his remarks.
Bureaucracy
"I'm concerned about a new bureaucracy with apparently such sweeping responsibilities. Defending our country is a good idea, but I'm worried about the loss of our civil rights. What the president didn't address tonight was the fact that now it's gone beyond profiling," said Ray Nakley of Youngstown, Peace Action's coordinator for Mideast affairs.
"They want to actively register, fingerprint and photograph all immigrants from certain countries, and that, to me, is blatantly discriminatory. It's not what America is all about. In this rush to create a new cabinet level agency, what other rights are we going to lose? That's what I'm concerned about, " he said.
"I feel like the Republicans and Bush are expanding government much more than the Democrats ever would have. ... I really think though, that the terrorism is a real, true threat, but I feel that they kept a closed eye to it for too long," observed Betsy Johnquest of Youngstown, another Peace Action member.
As for civil liberties, she said, "I think we've taken a giant step towards 1984. I think it's going to open the door for individuals to be wrongly accused of things because of their politics, because of their race."
"I don't like to see the power flowing to police in such volume," said Merlin Luce of Hubbard, a Peace Action supporter. Civil liberties are "one of the first victims of war," he added.
milliken@vindy.com