The late Howard Zinn, famous author of A People’s History of the United States, hit the nail on the head when he said, “We don’t have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.”
Those involved in the antiwar movement must take these lessons to heart and start fighting winnable battles. Nearly eight and half years into the War in Afghanistan, and with the seven-year anniversary of the Iraq War approaching on Saturday, it’s obvious that we’re in both wars for the long haul, with no end in sight. Hell, it took almost 20 years to leave Vietnam and the antiwar movement didn’t gain much traction until about 10 years into that onslaught. Sure, it’d be great to pull everyone out of Iraq and Afghanistan tomorrow, but like it or not, it just ain’t gonna happen.
Zinn’s crucial “small step” mindset comes into play for Wisconsin Assembly Bill 203, better known as the “Safeguard the Guard Act.” Safeguard the Guard calls for a termination of the illegal deployment of the Wisconsin National Guard to Iraq. The Wisconsin National Guard, as opposed to other branches of our armed forces, was created to protect our state from external attacks and not just as another pawn for our federal government to use to spread our country’s wings and wage empire abroad.
Introduced by Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, on April 9, 2009 through the initiative, pressure and activism of a Madison-based political action group called Liberty Tree Democratic Revolution, the bill has gained serious momentum. Last week — nearly a year after Black proposed the legislation — the Assembly Veteran and Military Affairs Committee held a public hearing on the bill. The bill currently sits in limbo post-hearing, and it’s now up to citizens to apply pressure to members of the Assembly Veteran and Military Affairs Committee to proceed with an up-or-down vote on moving the bill out of Committee and onto the Assembly floor.
On Oct. 9, 2009, the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs announced nearly 400 Soldiers would be ordered to active duty beginning this month for, and I appropriately quote them, “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” Also according to the Wisconsin DMA, nearly 3,700 members of the Wisconsin National Guard are currently on active duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the world.
State National Guards, under the U.S. Constitution, were created to repel foreign invasion and suppress internal rebellions. This is stated explicitly in the U.S. Constitution in Article I, Sec. 8, Clause 15, which grants Congress the power to pass laws for “calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.”
Furthermore, the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, a strong supporter of Safeguard the Guard, cites George W. Bush’s Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq of 2002 (AUMF) as another binding legal precedent. On its website, it states, “…[Our] limited, two-part mission for our military in Iraq [consisted of]: 1) [the] eliminat[ion] [of] the alleged threat posed by Iraqi WMDs; and 2) [the] remov[al] [of] Saddam Hussein from power. The WMD’s did not exist. Saddam Hussein is no longer in power. The mission authorized by Congress is over, and Congress has never voted to reauthorize the mission to Iraq on any other basis. Therefore, the 2002 AUMF — which is the only legal basis by which the President can demand National Guard troops for Iraq — has expired. Any continued deployment of Guard units to Iraq is now unlawful.”
Under both the Constitution and the AUMF of 2002, our state government is behaving illegally in deploying the National Guard to engage in imperialism abroad. Lawless behavior, in and of itself, is an all-too-frequent course of action for the U.S. and state governing bodies. The difference this time around, however, is that there’s actually a legitimate shot, with pressure from Wisconsin citizens, to halt such practices from taking place.
The long and short of it: this is a relatively small-scale antiwar measure being spearheaded by Liberty Tree and Black. Safeguard the Guard is a battle that can actually be won and is far from the David vs. Goliath duel of attempting to end the wars all at once. Yet the momentum it could bring and the symbolic value it would have for a fairly dormant antiwar movement, as well as the reverberations it would have nationwide, is unquestionable.
Something has to give, and Wisconsin must lead the way. We must fight to bring home the National Guard.
Steve Horn ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science and legal studies.
