National Archives Occupied Again by Veterans For Peace

Mike Ferner — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:16:40 +0000

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Vets hammer on war crimes theme

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November 17, 2008

‘I could see your banners three blocks away…’

“I could see your banners three blocks away,” the young man said excitedly. “And since I knew they were hanging on the Archives building, I wondered if it might be some kind of free speech exhibit so I had to come over and see.”

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November 17, 2008

by Mike Ferner

Washington - “I could see your banners three blocks away,” the young man said excitedly. “And since I knew they were hanging on the Archives building, I wondered if it might be some kind of free speech exhibit so I had to come over and see.”

The National Archives Building does indeed house originals of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights which specifically guarantees freedom of speech. But this was no Archives-sponsored exhibit. It was the real thing.

VFP holds the high ground at the National Archives Building

“UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION. ARREST BUSH AND CHENEY – WAR CRIMINALS,” and “We WILL NOT BE SILENT” shouted two enormous banners hung on a 90-foot scaffold by six members of Veterans For Peace, one member of Military Families Speak Out, and a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War a little after 8 am, Saturday, November 15.

The eight had slipped unnoticed around a construction barrier and climbed up the scaffolding, completely unnoticed. It was fairly easy that day to grab the element of surprise since finance ministers and heads of state from around the world were in Washington to propose they could do something about the global financial meltdown. Dozens of official motorcades, each guarded by scores of police, barreled up and down Pennsylvania Avenue, whisking officials to morning meetings that seemed to alternate between one end of that avenue and the other.

With so much official attention directed to the speeding motorcades and the blocked off streets in every direction, the VFP campaigners were able to haul several army duffel bags stuffed with ropes, banners, ponchos, water, a powerful p.a. system and a camping toilet up the scaffolding and into position within 30 minutes of their arrival. Shortly thereafter, the six men and two women were ready to drop the first banner declaring Bush and Cheney war criminals. Carefully prepared with guide ropes the night before in a D.C. church, the banner unfurled with little fuss, followed by a similar-sized banner stating, “We will not be silent.”

Before another half hour went by, the public address system broadcast passages of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speeches, as current now as they were 40 years ago when he uttered them.

“…one of the great liabilities of life is that all too many people find themselves living amid a great period of social change, and yet they fail to develop the new attitudes, the new mental responses, that the new situation demands. They end up sleeping through a revolution.”

Through our scientific and technological genius, we have made of this world a neighborhood and yet we have not had the ethical commitment to make of it a brotherhood. But somehow, and in some way, we have got to do this. We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools.”

King’s booming voice alternated with such songs as “People Have the Power,” by Patti Smith, “Let there be Peace on Earth,” by The Boys Choir of Harlem, “Yell Fire!,” by Michael Franti and Spearhead, and “I Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore,” by Phil Ochs.

Three National Archives rent-a-cops appeared just after the first banner unfurled, to tell the group’s ground team they were breaking the law. It took a minute to convince Sgt. Smith that we knew the action was illegal, but for the rest of the morning we never could convince him that what we were doing would have any benefit.

He explained he was all in favor of the First Amendment, but “Can’t everybody go around doing just what they please on federal property.” He expressed concern for the safety of the veterans on the scaffold, led by two former Army paratroopers, and appealed to us to ask the veterans to come down. As no fewer than a dozen sirens from another escorted motorcade nearly drowned him out, he said that if police or fire personnel had to be dispatched to remove the activists, D.C. citizens would suffer because emergency units units were out of service “to take care of protesters.”

Tourists walking along any street bounding the Archives building that day had their attention caught first by the soundtrack defiantly pouring out of the troup’s gutsy little sound system. Streets used to nothing but monotonous traffic noise were awash with speeches and music. Then, pedestrians and motorists saw the banners and many of them were stopped literally in their tracks. Most looked up in amazement and then smiled and offered supportive comments; only a few people expressed their discontent.

At one point a Boy Scout troop came by and one of the vets on the ground crew smiled and said, “You boys can get your democracy badge here if you check this out.” The scoutmaster, visibly unhappy with the display said, “Well, the troops sure aren’t going to like this.” “We are the troops,” the vet responded.

…and we weren’t !

Later that evening, Eve Tetas, a local peace activist came by to ask about the occupation. Her friend, Polly, told us that Eve had been arrested for disturbing the war more times than anybody she knows.

Eventually the conversation got around to whether we’d be able to put this action in the “successful” column. That reminded me of a frequent response I’d given to people expressing thanks for a VFP action, “This isn’t a spectator sport – what can you do?”

My point was that the success of it would be only partially measured by how many people were on the scaffolding or how long they stayed. What would make it monumentally successful would be if people heard about it and decided they, too, could go to Washington for a few days…and then a few more came, until pretty soon there were too many people for the sidewalk and they started spilling into the street, blocking off Constitution Avenue, with Pennsylvania Avenue just a block away.

We never know. We just never know when something like this will turn into a spark and really catch. We just keep doing what we can, and lo and behold, one time something aligns in the stars or catches in peoples’ minds, and what was just another valiant little effort turns into something no one saw coming, something we never expected. “History is full of such things,” I suggested, thinking of my favorite Samuel Adams quote: “It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.”

Of course, if people are going to respond to events like this one, they first have to hear about them. And they’ll have to hear about them from our own media, because they’re sure not going to hear it from the corporate press. For example, we sent out more than 100 news releases to the D.C. area news media and made nearly as many calls to announce the Archives occupation. WUSA Channel 9 and the Fox affiliate came out to cover a portion of the event, an NBC news photographer filmed a lengthy segment, and a Washington Post reporter talked with us at some length on the phone. But only Channel 9 aired or published a scrap of coverage.

However, on the bright side, David Swanson at AfterDowningStreet.org, and Cheryl Biren-Wright at OpEd News both did stories that got picked up by dozens of other internet sites, while KPFA, the Pacifica station in California, interviewed one of the campaigners perched on the scaffolding. Tony Teolis and other grassroots videographers and photographers posted many images of the VFP protest on the internet and they are getting around.

Bit by bit we are realizing that since human beings consciously decide to wage war, they can also decide not to wage war and say, “No. Enough. We draw the line here.”

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http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/37821

Vietnam War Vets Occupy National Archives Building

Mike Ferner — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:50:51 +0000

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“Arresting Bush and Cheney for war crimes will honor our oath to the Constitution.”

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September 24, 2008

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September 24, 2008

by Mike Ferner

Washington - Five Viet Nam war veterans yesterday climbed a 9-foot retaining fence, occupied a 40-foot high ledge and raised a 22x8 foot banner stating, “DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION. ARREST BUSH AND CHENEY: WAR CRIMINALS!” at the front of the National Archives Building.

The group declared its intention to stay on the ledge, fasting for 24 hours “in remembrance of those who have perished and those still suffering from the crimes of the Bush administration,” according to a written statement. Supporters on the ground distributed “Citizens Arrest Warrants” to people waiting in line to enter the Archives.

The veterans emphasized they are taking this action because “Bush and Cheney’s serial abuse of the Law of the Land clearly marks them as domestic enemies of the Constitution…they have illegally invaded and occupied Iraq, deliberately destroyed civilian infrastructure, authorized torture, and unlawfully detained prisoners. These actions clearly mark them as war criminals…accountability extends beyond impeachment to prosecution for war crimes even after their terms of office expire.”

“We take this action as a last resort,” the statement added. “For years we have pursued every avenue open to good, vigilant citizens to bring these men to justice, to re-establish the rule of law, and to restore the balance of power described in our Constitution. We are not disturbing the peace; we are attempting to restore the peace. We are not conducting ourselves in a disorderly manner; our action is well-ordered and well-considered. We are not trespassing; we have come to the home of our Constitution to honor our oath to defend it.”

Those participating are all members of Veterans For Peace and include Elliott Adams: 61, NY, VFP President and former Army paratrooper in Viet Nam; Ellen Barfield: 52, MD, former U.S. Army Sgt., full-time peace and justice advocate; Kim Carlyle: 61, NC, mountain homesteader, former Army Spec 5, 828-626-2572; Diane Wilson: 59, TX, shrimp boat captain, former Army medic, 361-785-4680; Doug Zachary: 58, TX, VFP staff, former USMC LCpl discharged as a conscientious objector, 512-791-9824; and Tarak Kauff (ground support) 67, NY, painting contractor, former U.S. Army Airborne.

Founded in 1985, VFP has 120 chapters throughout the country and has actively protested the Afghanistan and Iraq wars since their inception. Membership includes men and women veterans of all eras and duty stations spanning the Spanish Civil War, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq. VFP is an official Non Governmental Organization (NGO) represented at the UN.

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National Archives Occupied Again by Veterans For Peace

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Vietnam War Vets Occupy National Archives Building

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