September 4, 2002

THE REST OF the country may be sleepwalking while the Bush administration drags us into a nightmarish war in Iraq, but the Bay Area is incubating a strong, vociferous peace movement that's determined to stop this war before it starts. It's a movement motivated by the horror of waging war against a country that has not attacked us – a war that could lead to the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis and many U.S. troops, a war that would alienate people all over the world and make us more vulnerable to attacks here at home, a war that would cost about $100 billion at a time when our schools and hospitals are starved for funds. It's a movement that has gathered force over what would normally be the sleepy summer months and is now ready to rock the Bay Area and spread waves of resistance across the nation.

Consider this:

When Vice President Dick Cheney ventured out of hiding Aug. 7 to speak to San Francisco's Commonwealth Club, the community mobilized, in less than a week, a spirited 500-person gathering outside the Fairmont Hotel to greet him. When George W. came to California Aug. 23, he thought he was safe in Stockton. But Bay Area buses rolled out of town at 7 a.m. to take the antiwar message to the Central Valley.

Rep. Barbara Lee became a hero in the Bay Area and beyond for her lone vote against a military response to Sept. 11. Now Sen. Dianne Feinstein, not known for her pacifism, has come out with some of the strongest antiwar statements among Democrats. Why? Her constituents have been flooding her office with letters and calls.

Speaking of grassroots lobbying, the electronic advocacy group MoveOn circulated an online petition against the war and an invitation to meet with local senators in all 50 states. In six days, 30,000 people in the Bay Area signed the petition and 400 asked to join the meeting with Sen. Barbara Boxer. The response was so overwhelming, far beyond that of anywhere else in the country, that MoveOn turned the meeting into a rally outside Boxer's office with a clear message: it's not enough to make mushy statements questioning Bush – we want you to take the lead against this war.

The Bay Area is home to one of the most effective new groups to emerge since Sept. 11, the September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. Started by people who lost loved ones on that tragic day, the group has sent family members around the country – and the globe – with the poignant and personal message that their grief is not a cry for war.

The Bay Area is also home to a new coalition, United for Peace, which puts out a national call for groups around the country to organize peace events around the Sept. 11 anniversary. The result is some 200 events all over the country. The Bay Area will top the peace charts with a weeklong series of gatherings, featuring top musicians, dancers, singers, visual artists, and religious and community activists (for complete listings, see page 66 or go to www.unitedforpeace.org).

In the coming months, we'll be asking the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution against the war; we'll be calling on all Bay Area political leaders to sign a statement against the war; we'll be organizing days of action Oct. 6 and 7 – the anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan; we'll be passing the public power initiative, Proposition D, to say yes to energy independence and no to oil wars. And we'll be on the front lines in making our opposition heard in Washington, D.C.

So we urge you all to come out to the peace events around Sept. 11 and contact Global Exchange or one of the many local peace groups to get involved. Let's stop this war before it starts.