Thoughts on Stopping a War
Garth Liebhaber

The longer I am involved as an activist (which is just being a good Citizen, really), the more connectedness I feel with the world around me. The Foreign "Others" on the T.V. screen have become real to me. I’m not sure how I will react when/if the U.S. military invades the people of Iraq. At first I thought I would be despondent with my cynicism that I greet most news with. But lately, as tears come to my eyes, I think I shall think of the real "Others" that are not so Other anymore. I shall not let myself be so disconnected.
When I am next down at the Federal Plaza photographing the Response to War, I shall think of the Real People People of Iraq. People whom Ceylon Mooney, and Kathy Kelly, and others of the Iraq Peace Team, who I’ve heard, speak of.
What also concerns me is the 50,000 Iraqi-Americans that the Bush Administrations have on surveillance. In case of Invasion there is indication that many will be rounded up in case they are "traitors".
I studied abroad for a semester in Austria. We visited one of the concentration camps, Dachau. Everywhere, everywhere, people say Never Again! Never Again! I know that those who claim absolutes are often the first to fail. Will Americans resist Iraqis being illegally rounded up? Most will some of the time, while some will most of the time. I am hopeful remembering back to the time after September 11th when Peace People acted in solidarity with Islamic people by carrying out Mosque-sits and being a witness- presence f or those who felt threatened.
So, I struggle to be hopeful. I struggle to realize that though the ways of evil may persist, when one awakens from them, their ways are but like a bad dream.
Please, if you are reading this, do something to stop this war. Put a sign in your window, attend a weekly vigil. Join a peace group. Read. Write the politicians so they have no excuse. It is not wrong to think we can save the world. Shouldn’t we save the world? Is it not worth it? We must do good, because it is good to do good. May we find peace.