Veteran speaks on peace issues

Amid media coverage of swine flu and the struggling economy, Vietnam War veteran Mike Ferner returned the focus to the war in Iraq on Wednesday night at the Monroe County Public Library.

Ferner, who is board president of Veterans for Peace as of January 2009, is promoting the withdrawal of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“What brought this home for me was when my daughter said, ‘Well, this is my generation’s war, kind of like Vietnam was for yours,’” he said.

During his speech, titled “Beyond Iraq and Afghanistan: A Reflection on Martin Luther King’s ‘Beyond Vietnam speech’” Ferner said King’s statement that the United States is the greatest purveyor of violence is true to this day. So if Americans are concerned about having peace, they must consider what is being done and what has yet to be done, he said.

“The cost tally doesn’t end when the last shot is fired, because as soon as that happens, the gun is already reloading to shoot the next Vietnam,” said Gary May, secretary for National Veterans for Peace.

At the onset of the war, those promoting peace felt a sense of purpose that had been missing since Vietnam, he said.

“War is a force that gives us meaning,” he said, referencing the sentiment of those who oppose the war.

But he said war as an instrument of policy must be abolished and replaced with peace that has justice, democracy and self-governance.

“We would like to see the day come when there are no more veterans,” he said.

The crowded room collectively nodded in agreement when he said corporations are benefiting from the war and the United States is like an empire extending its military power through controlling oil and resources in the Middle East.

IU graduate student Kyle Knight said he came to hear Ferner speak because there is hardly any discussion about the resurgency.

In order to solve these problems the initiative has to come from the ground up, Ferner said.
“Unless we keep at it, we’ll be in Afghanistan for who knows how long, in Iraq for who knows how long and soon Pakistan,” he said.

Peace instead of war, he said, can be the force that gives us meaning.