Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice & Environment
Minutes: Monthly Meeting January 20 , 2021 via Zoom
Attending: Sharon Bauer, Kathy Button, Nicole Gardner, Brian Garvey, Jacqui Gross, Tod Gross, Cole Harrison, Sue Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin, Ben Oppenheimer, Tony Palomba, Deborah Peterson, Pam Phillips, Arun Sannuti, Susan Surabian, Jeanne Trubek, Jennifer Wolfrum, Abby Yanow.
NEW WORKING GROUP
WCPJE welcomes our new working group. The Pigsgusset Initiative, organized to promote indigenous rights and representation in Watertown, has chosen to join WCPJE. Everyone felt that their vision and ours were very closely aligned.
FOREIGN POLICY UNDER BIDEN – WHAT TO EXPECT
Cole Harrison, the Executive Director of Massachusetts Peace Action and a long-time activist and movement strategist, and Brian Garvey, Massachusetts Peace Action’s lead organizer came to answer a series of questions posed to them about how the Biden administration will execute s foreign and military policy from the perspective of the peace movement.
Biden made no mention of foreign policy in his inauguration address and has tapped many from the Obama administration. Gen Lloyd Austin as Secretary of Defense is only 4 years from active duty for a position that traditionally requires a civilian point of view. In the four years since he left the military he has been on the board of the largest and megalithic weapons supplier – training practically every member of the military and primary weapons supplier for our war in Yemen. Tony Blinken for Sec of State comes from his recent consultancy helping clients get Pentagon contracts. Admiral Haines, tagged for Director of National Security, supported Gina Haspel re: torture and rendition at the CIA. Samantha Powers, previously UN ambassador, supported intervention in Libya, Syria and Yemen as liberal humanitarian interventions despite the disastrous results.
Lesson that could have been learned from Obama and Trump years and even earlier have been lost. These appointees come from backgrounds where the point of view was of the US as good Empire, bringing order to the world through force, despite plenty of demonstration that military dominance through advanced weaponry and tactics has been unsuccessful both in the War on Terror and humanitarian interventions. Such superiority requires ever greater military budgets for more new weapons and strategies, but are unable to accommodate the growing economic strength of China and the restless assertions of smaller countries such as Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, who all seek nuclear capabilities.
Despite clinging to the costly, ineffective, and dangerous mission for the US military, Biden does offer some positives. His three promises to End the Yemen War, Return to the Iran Nuclear Deal and No First Use all present challenges, but his intention are at least good. There is a very narrow window for the Iran Deal as Iran has gotten no economic benefits from the deal, and hardliners opposing the Deal are likely to win the June election. It’s good to have John Kerry as a key player in the Iran Deal, and Biden’s elimination of the Muslim ban has created good will.
An approach based on the US military as the protector of world order, however flawed, is widely embraced. Along with opportunities for profit from new weapons and conflicts, this makes it hard for peace advocates to have a voice. The long standing bi-partisan support for military weaponry (the defense budget is now more than 50% of the discretionary budget) deprives other funding priorities. The Peace Movement will be focusing on the money, teaming up with those calling for more funding for climate, health care, etc. They will focus on short term achievements that are do-able: End the War in Yemen, Rejoin the Iran Deal and Rejoin the START Treaties with Russia. There are a few allies in Congress. Most reliable are the Squad of 8 and a handful of other strong progressives like McGovern and Markey. Hopefully more support will come from moderate progressives such as Katherine Clark, who so far embraces only “trimming” the military budget. The stance of the Peace movement is that overinvestment in the military does not make us strong. We need to redefine national security. All that money on bombs and missiles didn’t prevent the deaths from the pandemic and lack of health care. Fund Healthcare not Warfare
NEXT MONTHLY MEETING FEBRUARY17, 7:00 pm, a program and report from the Refugee Support Group
Respectfully submitted, Deborah Peterson