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Veterans Peace Coalition Formed By 12 Groups

By VVAW

Representatives from 12 veteran's groups met in Chicago in August with the intention of creating unified activities in the cause of peace. Hosted by VVAW, the group discussed the need for coordinated activities in the face of an increased prospect of war in Central America.

An important discussion arose around the nature of the group: would we be a coalition, a new membership organization, or a combination of both.

We agreed that we already had organizations in place, each with a history, a constituency and programs in place, each with a history, a constituency and programs in place; a new organization was not what was needed. Likewise, trying to be both a coalition of existing groups and a membership organization would mean a lot of duplication of work already going on. So we finally decided on forming a coalition which would coordinate activities and disseminate information among the groups.

Each group joining would have to pay an initiation fee of $100. Each group will have one vote regardless of the size of the group, and one voting member of a board which will elect a coordinator. The board would decide by vote who could join the group in the future.

Some activities voted on included endorsement of the Fast For Life, and a march on the Western White House in March of 1987. Several opposition parties in Nicaragua, and we didn't see any restrictions on their ability to speak out and call for what they wanted.

One thing you learn when you talk to people in Nicaragua about the government—even people who say they are not real happy with the way the Sandinistas are doing things—is that they know one thing for sure: They don't want toe Contras in power. They don't support Contras.

One good example of the people's support for the current system is the fact that the Contras do not have a popular base from which they can operate within Nicaragua. The Contras are based in Honduras and Costa Rica. They haven't been able to establish what is called an 'internal front'—a base of operation within Nicaragua.

To the Nicaraguan people, the Contras represent a return to the National Guard of Somoza, the army bought, paid for and trained by the U.S.— a lot of them at the School of the Americans in Panama, where a lot of our own Special Forces go for training.

The Contras don't engage the Nicaraguan army in battle. What the Contras are doing is, basically, terrorism. They make strikes across the border, and their targets are civilians. Their targets are villages, schools, and orphanages. The Contras are terrorizing people.

The Contras are not a military threat to the Nicaraguan military forces. The Nicaraguan forces can handle the Contras. The Contras cannot overthrow the Nicaraguan government.

That's why so many Nicaraguans are afraid of the U.S. invasion. They feel it's imminent. The signs are there.

We didn't get into Honduras, but we talked to an ABC television crew that had just come through there, and they said they were amazed at the 'thousands of military personnel' stationed there and the 'tons of military hardware' they saw. Basically, they said Honduras is like a U.S.-occupied military encampment.

My personal opinion is that if we invade Nicaragua, we will encounter the same thing we encountered in Vietnam— a war attrition. Our soldiers aren't going to have a sense of purpose. They aren't going to have the full backing of their country, and they are going to try to defeat people who are defending their own country— people who will fight to the very last, and who, if it comes down to fighting with sticks, will fight with sticks. It's not a matter of weapons or technology. It's a matter of 'cause.' We don't have a 'cause' to be down there. The Nicaraguans are determined to be free—of us and anyone else.

The Nicaraguan government gave arms to its people to fight the contras. Those arms will be used against any invader. And let me say that if the Sandinistas were afraid of dissent among their own people, if they were afraid those arms would be used to oust them, the last thing they would do is arm the people. But that's what they have done. So there are no safe havens for the contras. There will be no safe havens for the U.S. forces either.