Another day, another "peace" organization

Susan Medea Benjamin and friends are busy again, starting OccupationWatch.org, whose goals include:

* Research the dynamics, programs, and composition of the Iraqi movement to resist occupation in order to provide a more comprehensive picture to the international community;

* Support the creation of independent Iraqi organizations, such as media and environmental groups;

As if that weren't enough, they're going one step further:

"When the Green Party says, 'Bring them home,' the troops are right on with us," Benjamin said.
She told MSNBC.com that the anti-war coalition United for Peace and Justice is consulting with Quaker groups and with an organization called Veterans for Peace to see what the options are for "counseling the troops."
Benjamin said the Occupation Watch Baghdad office - currently with a staff of four - will "provide information and access to allow (U.S. troops) to make decisions for themselves."
The idea of counseling soldiers on how to claim conscientious objector (CO) status is something that only occurred to her delegation after it had returned from its tour of Iraq on July 14, she said.
"It became obvious that it was something we had to look into because of the low morale," Benjamin told MSNBC.com Sunday.
"If we decide it is important to do, we will test it out on the ground," she added. "How the military reacts to it is something we don't know."

However, this quote from the above article is quite appropriate:

"I'm wondering where they were when they could have been monitoring Saddam Hussein's human rights violations," said Harald Stavenas, a spokesman for the House Armed Services Committee. "Mass graves continue to be unearthed in Iraq and it is estimated that up to one million corpses will be found. Millions of people have been liberated from that threat. In contrast, this group's efforts seem ludicrous."

Perhaps their actions might prove to be a bit more than just ludicrous. If they end up actually supporting the "resistance" directly or indirectly through a front organization, (not that they're planning to do that, but you never know) wouldn't they then become quite obviously just on the other side?

Previous Susan Medea Benjamin posts here and here.

(Via TalkLeft)

ThePeaceMovement · Mon, 07/21/2003 - 09:36 · · Importance: 1