Thursday, Sept. 21, marked the International Day of Peace established by the United Nations in 1981. This year it also marked the culmination of the Declaration of Peace campaign with 360 communities in all 50 states taking action to end the war in Iraq.

Here in Madison, a dozen people committed themselves to 27 hours of action. Some of us risked arrest by sitting in at Sen. Herb Kohl's office, others of us handed out leaflets in front of his office on the Square, many of us fasted, and all of us spent hours solemnly reading the names of the thousands of U.S. military and Iraqi civilian deaths. In the evening, we were joined by scores of people who came for a rainy candlelight vigil.

All day Friday, people came up to Sen. Kohl's office and wrote letters to tell him to "end the war." Specifically, we asked him to sign on to Sen. Tom Harkin's bill that calls for a withdrawal of U.S. troops by the end of 2006 and to the eight-point program set forth in the Declaration of Peace. Kohl still refuses to endorse a timetable for withdrawing our troops from Iraq. He insists it is the responsibility of the Bush administration - the same people who led us into this disastrous war - to determine when our troops should come home.

Why would a dozen ordinary people like us take time out of our busy lives to collectively put 324 hours into an effort to "declare peace"? Because we are tired of the lies that got us into the war and the fear that allows a small group of neo-cons, who now control the government, to make us give up our deepest values. And because we know that peace does not come by killing innocent people.

Democracy is not built at the point of a rifle. Security is not achieved by dropping bombs. Human rights are not honored by torture.

We have brought unimaginable death and destruction to Iraq, but this shameful war is also inflicting the same horror on us. Ironically, this past Friday, the 2,974th American soldier died in Iraq, thus surpassing the total deaths from the attacks of 9/11. Another 20,000 have been wounded, tens of thousands are returning from Iraq emotionally and spiritually scarred and America's moral authority is tattered.

Our children and grandchildren will be saddled with paying the economic cost of this war. The National Priorities Project says Congress has already appropriated over $316 billion for the war with no end in sight. Much-needed social and environmental programs will go unfunded because war profiteering and tax cuts for the super-rich are not the basis for a sound economy.

We declared peace and stood up for the America we believe in - an America that:

• Lives out its ideals by being an equal partner in the community of nations - not by being a military superpower.

• Deals with heinous crimes like 9/11 with the rule of law - not by waging pre-emptive war or engaging in torture.

• Protects our national security by honoring civil and human rights for all - not by using illegal wiretaps and detentions, secret tribunals and other unconstitutional procedures. We acted because we believe in an America where "dissent is the highest form of patriotism" and we hope for the day when all citizens exercise their rights and responsibilities.

Guest Editors: Joy First, Mary Beth Schalgheck, Steve Burns, Janet Parker, Daryl Sherman, Char Brandl, Susan Spahn, Todd Kummer, Jim Murphy, Jackson Tiffany, Jo Vukelich, Bonnie Block.

© 2006 The Capital Times

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