The Wake

Thursday November 2, the Anti-War Committee and Al-Madinah Cultural Center sponsored an event that hosted three local experts who spoke on U.S. conflict in the Middle East. Marie Braun, Ramla Bile and Jess Sundin offered insight into what the United States is doing in the Middle East and advocated a change in U.S. foreign policy with the Middle East, which includes an immediate end to occupation in Iraq.

“Oil Arabs and War: Learn the truth about U.S. Policy in the Middle East,” was held in Blegen Hall on the University of Minnesota West Bank. The event sponsors hope to raise awareness about policy problems in the Middle East.

Marie Braun, the first speaker of the evening, described the failures of the war in Iraq by comparing it to Vietnam. She says that U.S. citizens are “spending 2 billion dollars a week for a war that is looking more and more like Vietnam.” Braun is co-founder of Women Against Military Madness Iraq Committee and the Twin Cities Peace Campaign-Focus on Iraq. In 2000 she was awarded the Activist of the Year Award by the Minnesota Alliance for Progressive Action (MAPA).

Braun stressed the fact that Iraq is still in a state of turmoil, and called the situation in the Middle East a “nightmare.” It has been over three years since occupation has begun and we have sat by and watched as the United States has become the hated empire. The longer occupation continued, the more Iraqi’s have joined the resistance, she says.

According to Braun, a poll of U.S. citizens that was released last June revealed that many Americans are unhappy with U.S. efforts in Iraq. Braun asked members of the audience to act on this discontent by advocating an immediate end to occupation. She admitted that “no one knows what will happen” when we pull out of Iraq, but whatever the consequences, they will be more manageable than staying in Iraq. Braun, as well as speaker, Jess Sundin, advocated an immediate end to occupation of Iraq.

But is this proposal too optimistic? At least one member of the audience thought so. Nathan Cheng attended the event because he holds opinions that oppose those of the Anti-War Committee. Cheng called the opinions of the speakers too “idealistic.” It’s “a bit of wishful thinking,” he says.

Sundin, the evening’s closing speaker, took Braun’s views to the extreme. Sundin is a founding member of the Anti-War Committee and is active in AFSCME 3800 and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. She focused her speech on the importance of Iraq’s oil supply in U.S. conflict with the Middle East.

Iraq contains 11 percent of the world’s total oil reserves. According to Sundin, because of America’s need for oil, Iraq’s oil reserves are at the center of U.S. politics. Oil in Iraq is nationalized, meaning that it’s government owned. To this day, Iraq won’t give up control of their oil, and Sundin believes that the United States won’t evacuate troops until our government receives control over some of Iraq’s oil. “Iraqi’s have a great deal of national pride,” Sundin says.

Sundin reaffirmed Braun’s claims by stating that “the U.S. can’t win in Iraq.” Every day the war in Iraq is getting deeper and is becoming an even bigger problem. Occupation will get harder and problems won’t end until we leave, Sundin says.

Not only did Sundin criticize the Republican Party for how they have handled conflict in the Middle East, she also condemned the Democratic Party by saying that they, too, aren’t hitting the mark. Democrats say they want to pull some troops, but not all, Sundin says. Not one democrat has said we have no right to a military base in Iraq.

So what can those who oppose the war in Iraq do to influence the future of U.S. policy in the Middle East? Sundin also offered insight into how people can help make a change in U.S. foreign policy. Sundin asks us to pressure government leaders and ask them to take a different look at how the United States is dealing with the Middle East. “We need to get into the streets and protest the governments,” she says.

Students can obtain more information on anti-war efforts by contacting some of the event’s co-sponsors. They include the Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Iraq Peace Action Coalition, Middle East Peace Now, Middle Eastern Student Association, Women Against Military Madness and the Mideast Committee.