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"If the United States sends combat troops, invades by proxy, or otherwise significantly escalates its intervention in Iraq, I pledge to join with others to engage in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience at U.S. federal facilities, Congressional offices, military instal-lations, or other appropriate places.
"I pledge to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience in order to prevent or halt the death and destruction that U.S. military action causes the people of Iraq."
In the summer of 2002, the Iraq Pledge of Resistance was established to maximize the impact of nonviolent civil disobedience against an invasion of Iraq. The Pledge encouraged autonomous local groups around the country to join in coordinated days of action during the weeks and days before the invasion, and then in response to it. The common pledge to nonviolent direct action united participants in more than 50 cities, while an e-mail list-serve and web site [www.peacepledge.org/resist.html] provided basic organizing information. National coordinator Gordon Clark provided national press work and an information clearinghouse, hosting regular conference calls for organizers to share ideas and experiences.
Across the country, hundreds of people newly committed to the necessity of civil disobedience were introduced to the practice. The first call for coordinated civil disobedience or campaign building actions was on December 10, International Human Rights Day. The major national resistance event of the day took place in New York, outside the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. An interfaith coalition of religious leaders organized the event.
Prior to the civil disobedience action, writes Chris Vaeth, " Rev. James Lawson, who was responsible for much of the training in nonviolent resistance during the civil rights movement, addressed the participants. He admonished that the severity of the impending war in Iraq will demand much more than symbolic protest. It will require Americans, especially people of faith, to render the war plans of this administration literally unmanageable ... blocking traffic in the streets, standing in front of government agency doorways, sitting on the floors of congressional offices, and choosing the rite of passage into the nation's jails. He was giving voice to a call that more and more people of conscience, both within and outside religious institutions, hear in their hearts. It is a call from a creative force in the universe, of many names or no name at all, to block this war machine..."
On this occasion, 120 people were arrested blocking the U.S. mission, cited for disorderly conduct, and released. The charges were all later dismissed at the initial court appearance. In Austin, seven "Peace Recruiters" collected Pledge signatures at a table in front of the Army Recruiting Center at the University of Texas. They were eventually arrested when they refused to leave. Prosecution was deferred but two have since been arrested again.
Three people were arrested when they walked onto plant property at British Aerospace in Nashua, Hew Hampshire, the state's largest war contractor. They will face trial for criminal trespass in May.
Federal building blockades took place in Sacramento, California (9 arrests - unlawful assembly charges pending); Hartford, Connecticut (14 arrests - all pled to one day community service); and Chicago, Illinois (19 arrests, one held overnight - causing a disturbance charges pending).
The next call to action was issued by the national coordinating group for mid-January, to mark the birthday and holiday celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King. Then, through February and into March, groups in more than a dozen cities spurred the movement with one or more local resistance actions resulting in arrests. By mid-March, organizers in more than 40 cities responded to the "day of invasion" call to action. (These actions are incorporated in the Day by Day listing.)
Pledge groups in some major cities have coordinated their efforts with others independently engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience. Nationally, the Iraq Pledge of Resistance continues the campaign in opposition to the U.S. military occupation of Iraq. For more information about the campaign and next call to action, visit www.peacepledge.org/resist or call (301)589-2355.
