Galloway and Camilo Mejia

The evening of the march, I went to First Congregation Church to hear George Galloway speak about the evil of this war. Galloway is full of spit and vinegar and it is refreshing to hear him speak the truth. There had several other speakers from the Arab-American League who were worthwhile listening to, also. They talked about the racism in our society and how things have been for them. They talked about the war and how they oppose it.

Camilo Mejia is the young man who was serving in the US military in Iraq back in 2004. He went home on leave, and decided not to return to Iraq. He felt it was immoral and illegal what the US military was doing over there. Camilo spent about 9 months in the military brig for taking this stand. I have always thought he was a remarkable person, and that he has a deep understanding of what this war is really about. He is also very humble. In his speech tonight, he said that we should all be grateful to the resistance in Iraq, since they are resisting for all of us. He seemed to convey the idea that this violent resistance is responsible for stopping the continuation of the war into other countries that Bush or Cheney may want to invade. I found his speech somewhat upsetting, since he seemed to be in favor of violence, as long as it was coming from the Iraqi resistance.

I believe, as did Martin Luther King, Junior, that violence begets violence. I believe violence is self-defeating, and this seems very evident to me in the ongoing events in Iraq. I believe this violence in Iraq will tear the country apart. Therefore, I only support the non-violent resistance to the American occupation of Iraq. It is harder, and very dangerous, to practice non-violent resistance against a violent force. But ultimately, I feel it is the only route to finding a peaceful solution. It seems that using violence to stop violence may be justified or explainable, however, after the violence is over the seeds for the next violent confrontation have been sown.

I wish Camilo Mejia saw it the way I see it.