Around the Bend, Volume 5, Number 5, February 1991

              ~ AROUnD THE eenD
A Publication of the Peace Education Fund of Indiana, Inc.
Volume 5, Number 5 "All the news that fits we print." February 1991
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Central America Update
Coalition News
Disarmament Section
Feminist Focus
Up and Coming
WILPF Happenings
Page 8
Page 3
Page 1
Page 5
Page 11
Page 9
Around the Bend Is a forum for expression of
Ideas, opinions, and Information from a coalition of
peace and justice organizations. The opinions ex­pressed
herein are those of the authors and are not
necessarily endorsed by all or any of the contrlbut-
1 ng organizations. Contributions from all perspec­tives
are Invited.
Around the Bend will be malled on the last day
of each month. It takes about two weeks to assemble
and print each Issue. Articles are due not later than
two weeks from the end of the month. The deadline
for copy for the March Issue will be February 15th.
Please send or bring articles to 1036 Niies Ave.,
South Bend, 46617, care of the appropriate editor.
Articles longer than 400 words will be considered
feature articles. Only one feature article will be pub·
lished each month. Articles about past events
should give a general overview of the event and be
shorter than 400 words.
DISARMAMENT UPDATE
By Julian Pleasants
Conscientious Objection -- The New Phase
For the last 7 years local draft counsellor Dennis
McQueen has been advising 18 year olds of their
legal rights, recourses, and the penalties for not
registering. Lately, and especially since the story In
December/January ATB, he has been counselling
persons already In the military who now have a con­scientious
objection to participating In a Gulf War.
Local Counsellor Margaret Garvey and Goshen
Counsellor Dennis Coehn were called to Germany In
December to counsel war resisters among the troops
being shipped from Germany to the Gulf.
Corporal Jeffery Patterson sat down on the tar­mac
at a Marine base In Hawaii and refused deploy
ment to the Gulf. He received a less than honorable
discharge. Army Flight Surgeon David Wiggins
spent a month on hunger strike after his C.O. status
was denied. A Coast Guard C.O. Is one of the few to
receive a C.O. discharge. The New York Times of
January 14 reports that "the American Friends Ser·
vice Committee and the War Resisters League say
they are counselling hundreds of war resisters.
Most say that until they heard of Mr. Patterson's
action, they did not know they had a right to file for
discharge on the ground that they have developed
what the Defense Department calls "a sincere objec·
tlon to all wars" since joining the military.
But conscientious objectors to this war in the
Persian Gulf need not be opposed to all wars. An
ethical stance on war, whether or not it condemns all
wars, has almost universally required that war be a
last resort. In support of that demand, churches and
church organizations all over the country are taking
a leadership role In opposing the Gulf war. Even If
they do not have an explicit just war theory, they are
emphasizing the supremacy of the Individual con·
science when It Is a question of participating In a
war which Is not necessary -· because military force
Is not, or Is not yet, the only alternative. Therefore,
conscientious objection to this war can be a moral
Imperative, whether based on religious or ethical
grounds, and whether or not It extends to all wars.
A new challenge faces the counsellors below who
have offered their services to those In the military
who face this agonizing choice, or to those now
facing the possibility of a draft.
Dennis McQueen: 282·2407. Margaret Garvey:
271-0611. Dennis Coehn (Goshen) 219·533·9739.
Notre Dame Campus Ministry: 239-7800.
President Must Perjure Himself to Start War Now
Congress's Declaration of War did not declare that
the President could now Initiate war at a time of his
choosing. It demanded a determination that war had
become a last resort. Congress took that burden off
Its own shoulders and placed It on the shoulders of
the President, who seemed so eager to assume It. It
leaves It up to the President to decide when war has
become the only resort available. Section 2 of the
Resolution, entitled "Authorization for Use of Military
Force Against Iraq," reads as follows:
WHAT IF THEY GAVE A WAR AND NO ONE CAME