George McGovern Speaks Out For Peace

No War on Iraq Rally

Rally organized by local citizens under the auspices of the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center in Missoula, Montana on February 16, 2003.

Summary

"We are all here as patriots who love this country. We all care deeply about this beautiful land of ours," said George McGovern, former Senator, Presidential candidate and UN Ambassador. He spoke to several thousand people at Missoula, Montana's peace rally Sunday February 16, 2003. From a makeshift podium made out of a pair of drums stacked on top of each other he made a moving, extemporaneous talk.

Speech

Well I'm just delighted to be here today. And to have my opportunity to put my tongue to work where my heart is. And that's for the cause of peace. [Applause]

With the help of this makeshift podium. I'm going to try to speak sense here today.

And to maybe do a bit of drumming that is in the interests our cause.

We are all here as patriots who love this country. [Applause]

We are all here as patriots who love this country. We all care deeply about this beautiful land of ours. We all care deeply about this beautiful land of ours, "land of the pilgrims pride, land where our fathers died, from every mountain side, let freedom ring." [Applause]

We especially pray for these young Americans who will be the first casualties of war. They're now gathered by the tens of thousands in their battle stations around the Persian Gulf.

And we pray for the long suffering people of Iraq and their young soldiers who have the misfortune of living under a brutal dictator.

Years ago, speaking of another time and place the poet said of young men about to join battle: "Theirs is not to reason why. Theirs is but to do or die."

But we do have the chance to reason why. Those of us who hold the fate of these young me in the balance.

The president, perhaps desperately seeking a scapegoat, came up with Saddam Hussein.

I think the question is, when we talk about reasoning why, what is this proposed war all about?

Is there anyone here who really doubts that we would be here, at the brink of war, if it were not for the tragic events of 9-11 that killed some 3,000 of our fellow citizens for which we still grieve.

The president and all the rest of us knew who executed that action. It was Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network of radical young men disillusioned by the powers that be, striking out against the most powerful and wealthiest nation on earth.

So the president said, raising his fist, I want Osama Bin Laden dead or alive and he then unleashed the heaviest bombers in our air force to turn the hills and mountains of Afghanistan into a rock pile. But no Osama Bin Laden dead or alive.

After a few weeks of infuriating frustration and distress over the failure to capture this architect of the 9-11 tragedy. The president, perhaps desperately seeking a scapegoat, came up with Saddam Hussein the ruler of Iraq. What a beautiful scapegoat this obnoxious character.

The only problem is that he had nothing to do with the events of 9-11. Nor does he have the military and economic power to even think about challenge the military might of the strongest power in all the history of the world.

If the congress and the judicial is not strong enough to check the executive branch we're in very real trouble.

But for months the administration has saturated the media and the American public with the implication that almost everything evil in the world centers on Saddam Hussein.

Some of our citizens, understandably, have accepted those words from the administration.

We have in this country a system of checks and balances that I've always thought was one of the glories of American democracy. But, if the congress and the judicial is not strong enough to check the executive branch we're in very real trouble.

We have a system that I think when it is at it's best, does puts checks and restraints on impetuous actions. When that doesn't work then we have to resort to what we are doing today.

We have to mobilize the resources of the people. [Applause.]

We have to mobilize the resources of the people. And this is the reason why. Hundreds of thousands perhaps millions of Americans are gathered all across this country today doing what we do trying to save the lives of young people in a needless war. [Applause.]

I also think we also ought to thank God not only for the voice of the American people. But for the collective wisdom of the United Nations. [Applause.]

The great Thomas Jefferson opened the declaration of independence with an appeal to his fellow citizens to show a decent respect to the opinions of humankind. What is that opinion.

Recently former president Carter called our attention to a poll conducted by the European edition of Time magazine in which several hundred thousands Europeans all the way from Ireland across to Poland and Czechoslovakia, were asked this question: "Which nation posses the greatest threat to peace in the year 2003." 7% said Iraq, 8% said North Korea, 84% said the United States of America.

I think that's sad. That a country that you and I have believed all our lives was the greatest country on earth is now regarded as a bully, is now regarded as arrogant and careless about war.

Some years ago Will Rogers said in his usual terse way. "The only thing I know is what I've read in the newspapers."

Thank God not only for the voice of the American people. But for the collective wisdom of the United Nations.

I read the Missoulian every day when I'm here not at my home state of South Dakota. Give me a couple minutes to look at the Saturday edition of the Missoulian.

Here are the headlines: "US Given Little Support At UN"

Here's the UN in our country. We're the host. We had more to do with it's birth than anybody else. Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, the Republican candidate for President in 1940, a great man, Wendel Wilke. All these other Americas gathered to make sure we wouldn't have to go through another trial like World War II. And we got the honor of hosting the United Nations.

Yet here is this heading, the US has little support at the United Nations for the war we are proposing."

May I read one or two paragraphs. "In a dramatic show down major powers rebuffed the United States in the United Nations Security Council on Friday and insisted on more time for weapons inspections after top UN inspectors failed to give Washington the ammunition it needs to galvanize support for military action."

What really is the rush into this war, when we have several hundred of the world's leading arms experts trying to asses what the situation is in Iraq? Why not give them the time to do their work properly? [Applause]

I'm not going to carry this part of the newspaper any further. Other than to say that I'm grateful for the Missoulian for presenting the news as fairly as it has.

I'm sick and tired of old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.

Many years ago Winston Churchill, whom I think most Americans admire. Tried to talk our leaders out of going into Vietnam. He argued the hazards of putting highly mechanized and trained soldiers into the jungles of Asia. He was turned down on that plea by our government in Washington. And he said sometime later. "The only thing certain about war is that nothing is certain about war." [Applause]

I saw that early in my life as a young combat veteran my self. Coming back to the United States a few years later. President Truman ordered American troops into Korea.

I think the president sincerely told us he thought it was just a brief police action that would be over in a matter of days or weeks. But as we stand here today in this weather 40,000 young Americans are still tied down in the snow and ice of Korea along the 38th parallel.

"Nothing is certain in war is, except nothing is certain about war."

I said in [in my presidential] campaign, when I was the standard bearer of my party.

"I'm sick and tired of old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in." [Long Applause]

Half of the crews, the bomber crews that I few with, in World War II and I might add I'm proud of that service it was necessary that we smash Hitler's war machine to save our civilization. Half of the bomber crews that I flew with never came home from that venture.

Today I still, see the image of a bomber loaded with bombs, loaded with high octane gasoline, loaded with ten young men taking off, a few minutes after we were laughing together over breakfast before dawn, crashing on taking off and their bodies reduced to tiny pieces of flesh. I remember bombers flying off my wing being hit by anti-aircraft over the target, catching fire, exploding, falling to earth over enemy territory, no parachutes. One does not forget those things, quickly.

I might add that at the age of 22, I was the grand old man on my crew with a load of 9 teenagers dependant on me for their lives.

So may God bless all of you patriotic Americans who are here standing up for our country, standing up for our founding values. Thanks to all of you who show your faithfulness to what is best in America.

So when I hear the brash war cries of our young and I think well meaning president, inexperienced, filled with the sense of power that comes to a commander in chief of this country. But I hear those brash words from this man, from the Vice President Dick Cheney, from the Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice the National Security Advisor, and I know that I'm hearing the words of people that have never been near a battlefield. [Applause]

I also hear the words of Lyndon Johnson. Rueful, words, late in his administration. When he told McGeorge Bundy at the White House, "It's awfully easy to get into a war. It's sure as hell hard to get out." [Applause]

I think the old British conservative Edmund Burke probably put it best. "A consciousientious man would be cautious how he dealt with blood."

So may God bless all of you patriotic Americans who are here standing up for our country, standing up for our founding values. Thanks to all of you who show your faithfulness to what is best in America.

Instead of bombing people, the people of Iraq. Wouldn't it be more both practical and more humanitarian and more productive, I think, of peace and security in the long run. If we were to implement a proposal that Senator Dole and I have been pushing world wide, in this case, to provide a good and nutritious school lunch every day for every hungry school child the world around. [Long applause]

So in conclusion may we ask that God all mighty protect and guide us by thy light, great God our king. Driving hear today from Victor and Stevensville I missed both Sunday school and church which I have to confess is not the first time. [Laughter]

So as penance I'm going to sing for you. A little song that I learned as a child. I guess I can get by without pounding the drums. I'll do my best, although I don't claim to be a vocalist, but it goes something like this and I hope the non-Christians who are here today and people from other faiths and people without religious faith that I learned so many years ago from my Methodist preacher father.

"Jesus loves the little children of the world." And so do we. It goes something like this:

"Jesus loves the little children.
All the children of the world.
Red or Yellow, black or white.
They are precious in his sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world."

And so do we.

[Long Applause]

Note: George McGovern's talk was transcribed from a recording made at the Missoula Peace Rally. An audio CD of this talk is available from the Jeannette Peace Center.