Philadelphia-I came to Market Street to hand out the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) strategy flyer to protesters waiting for the President. There were not that many protesters so I did my best to get the two-sided orange flyer into everyone's hands. It didn't take that long. I had a nice talk with someone from Americans Against the Escalation in Iraq who desperately wanted veterans to speak at local events but stated that they had no money to pay. I let her know that if Moveon and others behind her group wanted the vets that money would be needed. IVAW is a powerful but vastly underfunded organization and those with financial resources need to support IVAW financially. It was a good conversation and I took her email to pass on to IVAW just in case there were any takers.
The protest moved to outside the building where the President was meeting and I wasn't feeling much like protesting. So I started to look around. There were at least as many by-standers as protesters and the lines were pretty clear and reinforced by the civil affairs officers. I then saw a woman outside the pack of protesters, about 25 feet away.
She was wearing an "Army" gray shirt and camo backpack. She seemed interested in the protest and she seemed uncomfortable.
I went up to her and handed her a flyer and asked if she was in the Army. She said she was and asked if I had served. I told her no, told her my name and explained that I am an IVAW supporter who has been working with IVAW for about a year. We had a short conversation about IVAW, that it is a national organization of over 500 members and growing and I told her about Kelly Dougherty, the Executive Director, and a veteran. The woman said she would contact Kelly to learn more.
Feeling good about a potential recruit I went on to give flyers to the other bystanders and talked with a few of them. People were very interested and seemed supportive. All in all it only took about 30 minutes. It felt good to spread the word about IVAW's strategy, a strategy which I helped IVAW create that is uniquely suited to who IVAW is and what IVAW members believe in.
With 70% of the American public (so the polls tell us) now against the war there are now many people 25 feet (or more) away from the protests. Many of these anti-war bystanders want to have a role in ending this war. Some of them will turn out to be Iraq vets, others like the woman I met this morning will be active-duty, and many others will have family members in the military. And there will be large numbers who may not have the honor I have had to befriend and work with the members of IVAW. Regardless, it is these bystanders who make up the vast majority of the American public who are eager to end this war now-they realize that doing so not only is the best way to support the troops but it is also the best way to preserve our democracy.
So next time you go to an anti-war event, print up and copy the IVAW strategy flyer. Give it out to the people taking action but take some time to talk to and distribute the flyer to the many people 25 feet away (or more) from the action. That is where the action is and needs to be.
Jethro Heiko is the Organizing Director for the Action Mill. The Action Mill's latest project is AmericaStandsWatch.org
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