[haw-info] Draft of HAW statement

[statement at historiansagainstwar.org]

To members and friends of Historians Against the War,
 
For the past several weeks the Steering Committee has been discussing
revising or updating our policy statement that people have been signing to
join HAW.  We adopted the current statement on September 21, 2003, and it
reads:
 
As historians, teachers, and scholars, we oppose the expansion of United
States empire and the doctrine of pre-emptive war that have led to the
occupation of Iraq.  We deplore the secrecy, deception, and distortion of
history involved in the administration’s conduct of a war that violates
international law, intensifies attacks on civil liberties, and reaches
toward domination of the Middle East and its resources.  Believing that
both the Iraqi people and the American people have the right to determine
their own political and economic futures (with appropriate outside
assistance), we call for the restoration of cherished freedoms in the
United States and for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
 
Several times since 2003 the Steering Committee has expressed opinions on
issues that were outside the literal framework of the founding statement,
but that appeared to many people to be related.  The Steering Committee
criticized US government support for the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in
the summer of 2006, and for the invasion of Gaza earlier this winter. 
Last fall we adopted a set of “discussion points” on Afghanistan that
called for the US to withdraw rather than to escalate.

More recently, there has been discussion of formalizing a broader scope
for the organization, either through a more general statement by the
Steering Committee or by a new statement of unity for HAW as an
organization.  A proposed document that could potentially serve either
purpose is included in this message.  We invite feedback on either or both
of the following points:

-- The substance of the statement:  Do you have concerns about the
proposed text?  Would you suggest revisions?

-- The purpose of the statement:  If it were to be adopted after the
process of feedback and revision, should it be simply as a statement of
opinion by the Steering Committee (parallel to the earlier statements on
Lebanon, Gaza, and Afghanistan) or as a re-definition of HAW itself?  (If
we follow the latter course, it would be subject to approval in an e-mail
ballot open to recipients of the HAW-Info messages.)

Please send any feedback to statement at historiansagainstwar.org. This
statement is also posted on our blog, and those who so wish can discuss
the proposal at
http://www.historiansagainstwar.org/blog/2009/03/haw-info-draft-of-haw-statement.html
.

Thanks,
Jim O’Brien and Marc Becker, co-chairs
for the HAW Steering Committee




As historically-minded activists, scholars, students, and teachers, we
stand opposed to wars of aggression, military occupations of foreign
lands, and imperial efforts by the United States and other powerful
nations to dominate the internal life of other countries.

In particular, we continue to demand a speedy end to US military
involvement in Iraq, and we insist on the withdrawal, not the expansion,
of US and NATO military forces in Afghanistan.  We also call for a sharp
reduction of US military bases overseas, and an end to US financial and
military support of regimes that repress their people, or that occupy the
territories of other peoples.  We favor as well a drastic redirection of
national resources away from military spending and towards urgently needed
domestic programs.

We deplore the secrecy, deception, and distortion of history, the repeated
violation of international law, and the attack on civil liberties
domestically that accompanies the present U.S. foreign policy of war and
militarism—a foreign policy that became especially belligerent in the
aftermath of September 11.

We fear that the current, rapidly escalating crisis of global capitalism,
which is creating suffering worldwide, will lead to escalating wars abroad
and intensifying repression at home.  We support solutions to this crisis
that seek to enrich the lives and increase the power of working peoples
globally, and protect their fundamental human rights.  We are unalterably
opposed to any attempts to solve the crisis at their expense.

We are aware that, in the words of the late historian William Appleman
Williams, “empire as a way of life” has characterized the United States
since its foundation and is not easily changed.  However, we are mindful
as well that the current conjunction of international and domestic crises
offers an opportunity to alter longstanding destructive patterns.  As
historians, we believe that we can and must make a contribution to the
broad, international movements for peace, democracy, and social justice. 
In pursuing our objectives, we look toward building and joining alliances
with a wide variety of intellectual and activist groups that share our
concerns.