One year later.
Has everything really changed since September 11? Or has nothing changed?
No one is safer, the poor are still poor, the rich are still rich. The US government
has expanded its efforts to remake the world in its own image and for its own
purposes. Peoples continue to be oppressed within their own countries.
However, the US “War on Terrorism” has had major impacts, both domestically
and internationally. It has been used as a pretext to further various agendas.
In the name of the “War on Terrorism,” civil liberties have been curtailed
in the US, dissent has been made suspect and ignored, people have been profiled,
and US society and culture have become more overtly militaristic. The US has
used the war to justify the invasion of Afghanistan and the threatened war on
Iraq. Other countries have picked it up and use “the war on terrorism”
to justify their own aggression and pursuit of more military aid.
We mourn the pain of all who have suffered from this war.
Despite the Bush Administration’s efforts to create a pro-war consensus,
dissent is energetic both here and abroad. There has been a tremendous outpouring
of creative nonviolent responses to the war, and there have been some successes.
We celebrate those, and in that celebration recommit ourselves to insisting
on alternatives to war and creating a world of peace and justice.
This special issue of the Peace Newsletter is part of SPC’s
response to the war. Please help us distribute these widely. For more information
on this and other ways you can participate, please see page 3.