by Patricia Wilson
Nine members of Rep. Vern Ehlers' 3rd congressional district met with him in his Grand Rapids office yesterday in an effort to put pressure on him to change his stance on the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Over 1000 signed letters of conscience and petitions were presented to Mr.Ehlers and told that these 1000 documents represent additional tens of thousands of people from the area who are also against the occupation of Iraq.
Nancy Davis began the discussion by stating that the American people are against the war in Iraq and they want him to help get us out. She commended Mr. Ehlers for his service to the community saying that he is a smart man and is well regarded for his work on scientific and environmental issues. She also stated that she believed him to be a man of good moral conscience. However she stated that she sees a disconnect with his stance on environmental and pro-life issues and the continuation of the killing and maiming that is taking place daily in Iraq.
Elaine Rios talked about her brother who is in Iraq at this time, hired by one of the contracting firms who are fighting and providing many of the services to the military that they used to provide for themselves. She told Mr. Ehlers that she holds him personally responsible for the killing going on because he could choose to end it and he has not. She appealed to his sense of morals to correct a mistake that he made when he voted to invade and occupy Iraq.
Mr. Ehlers admitted that we are in Iraq because of a mistake. And that he regrets the mistake that led the U.S. to invade. And while he blames faulty intelligence for his mistake, others in the room blame a Bush administration who misconstrued intelligence and deliberately lied in an effort to fool the public into supporting the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Mr. Ehlers stated that he would have voted no on the invasion for chemical weapons of mass destruction, that he may have voted to invade for biological weapons of mass destruction and that he did vote in favor to invade for the claimed nuclear weapons that Colin Powel testified that Sadam Hussein had. One member of the group stated that some in congress did not make that mistake; that they were able to discern the false statements coming from the administration and that it is indeed Mr. Ehlers' fault along with many others in congress that we are in this mess.
Members of the group meeting with Mr. Ehlers expressed that none of them in the room and very few in the nation by now believe a word that the President of the United States says and many of them turn off the radio and television whenever the president speaks. For this group the President has lost all credibility and told Mr. Ehlers so. One of the group asked Mr. Ehlers why he continues to listen to and believe what the administration puts out when there is so much proof that they are habitual liars.
Glen Freeman talked about his belief in God and asked Mr. Ehlers if he believes that he himself should try to fix his mistake or will he leave it for God to fix? A short while later he threw up his hands and left the room in frustration.
Steve Kaufman told Mr. Ehlers that he wished that he would just vote his conscience and stop voting in lock-step with the Republican Party. He then showed him a copy of a portion of an article about how the White House is lobbying republican legislators in an effort to control the upcoming vote for funding in September.
Christine Fong asked Mr. Ehlers how staying in Iraq and continuing the killing could ever be justified. "So we stay another 2 years or 5 years and more and more people die, what have we accomplished"?
Others at the table talked about the inhumanity of what the United States is doing to the children, women and men (all civilians) in Iraq with hundreds of thousands of people dead and the huge sums of money being spent on this war were discussed as well. Those at the table expressed the believe that communities and individuals here at home are going without because so much of our tax money is going to the military. Surprisingly Mr. Ehlers disagreed and said that the sums of federal money distributed to Michigan are hardly down at all from years past.
Patricia Wilson spoke about the similarities of this occupation with Viet Nam. She stated that this a civil war and is unwinable and that even though there has been some reported improvement in security issues in Iraq since the so-called surge, that as soon as our troops leave those improvements in security will disappear as well. We cannot provide security forever she said. She also stated that it was her belief that Americans are not in favor of endless war. She quoted that 7 out of 10 Americans want to bring the troops home and that it was her hope that Mr. Ehlers would stop voting along Republican Party lines. She stated that some thoughtful republicans have voted with democrats on various bills to end the war and that she hoped that he would soon join them.
Members of the group expressed the desire to have the United Nations actively involved in future negotiations with other nations who have offered to be involved as the United States withdraws troops from Iraq. Printed materials were left with Mr. Ehlers, at his request regarding this. Other materials left concerned a recent article written by several U.S. soldiers.
Members of the group of nine told of a professor who spoke in Grand Rapids the previous night about several permanent military bases that have been built in Iraq. These were described as small fortified cities within the country of Iraq complete with their own swimming pools, restaurants and movie theaters, built with the intention of being occupied for decades to come. Mr. Ehlers offered no comment on this.
Finally the group appealed to Mr. Ehlers' pride and asked him if he wanted to be remembered for his mistake in Iraq or for admitting his mistake and changing his stance on the war and trying to do the right thing now? "People are forgiving; you would be showered with praise and admiration if you simply admitted that this is all a huge mistake and then started working at making it right" said one member of the group.
