John Smart writes: The Peace Corps vs. The War Corps



Bush’s War is now invading the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps is one of the great legacies of the Kennedy administration, and many consider it the best program in our foreign affairs toolkit. Peace Corps volunteers represent our nation in remote corners of the world, helping people and giving them a positive sense of the innate good will of the American people. Matthew McCue is a young Peace Corps volunteer serving in the West Central African nation of Niger. Matt is also a veteran of the Iraq War. He served his time there, but he came to believe that war was not the answer and turned against it. He felt the need to do something positive with his life, and eventually, after he left the military, found his home in the Peace Corps. As we know too well, the all-volunteer U.S. military is terribly overstretched, they are practically snatching people off the streets to send them to Iraq, and now they want to pull Matt McCue from his service in the Peace Corps and force him to go back to Iraq. He’s been called up for redeployment. Does it make any sense at all to remove a viable, successful volunteer from the Peace Corps and send him back into a war he and most of us disapprove of? Isn’t national service in the Peace Corps every bit as valuable to our nation and the world as service in the military, maybe more so, maybe a LOT more so? Some of Matt McCue’s friends have started a petition to President Bush, Secretary of Defense Gates and Sen. Domenici, from Matt’s home state of New Mexico, asking that Matt be allowed to continue doing the good work he’s engaged in. You can sign the petition here. You can also write to your own members of congress and tell them about this idiocy.

John Smart writes: The Peace Corps vs. The War Corps

The Peace Corps vs. The War Corps

Opinion Column

by John Smart

THE-BEE, Phillips WI

Last updated: Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 11:49:04 AM

http://www.phillipswi.com/bee/?section_id=52&story_id=207052

Bush’s War is now invading the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps is one of the great legacies of the Kennedy administration, and many consider it the best program in our foreign affairs toolkit. Peace Corps volunteers represent our nation in remote corners of the world, helping people and giving them a positive sense of the innate good will of the American people. They also then return home and inform the rest of us on some of the wonders and the problems in the rest of the world.

Matthew McCue is a young Peace Corps volunteer serving in the West Central African nation of Niger. He is an agricultural specialist [I suspect Matt would say that he’s “just a farmer”], and works very successfully with the people of Niger to improve their farming techniques and their harvests.

Matt is also a veteran of the Iraq War. He served his time there, but he came to believe that war was not the answer and turned against it. He felt the need to do something positive with his life, and eventually, after he left the military, found his home in the Peace Corps. He wrote a short article on his quest that moved me very much, and I believe it will also move you. It can be viewed at the following Web site: www.farmsnotarms.org.

As we know too well, the all-volunteer U.S. military is terribly overstretched, they are practically snatching people off the streets to send them to Iraq, and now they want to pull Matt McCue from his service in the Peace Corps and force him to go back to Iraq. He’s been called up for redeployment. Does it make any sense at all to remove a viable, successful volunteer from the Peace Corps and send him back into a war he and most of us disapprove of? Isn’t national service in the Peace Corps every bit as valuable to our nation and the world as service in the military, maybe more so, maybe a LOT more so?

Sen. Chris Dodd, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president and a former Peace Corps volunteer himself, has proposed a National Community Initiative which calls for young Americans to do some form of national service, such as Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Vista, Teach for America, and the military as well. This is a laudable plan, and worthy of our consideration.

Some of Matt McCue’s friends have started a petition to President Bush, Secretary of Defense Gates and Sen. Domenici, from Matt’s home state of New Mexico, asking that Matt be allowed to continue doing the good work he’s engaged in. You can sign the petition at http://www.gopetition.com/online/14951.html. You can also write to your own members of congress and tell them about this idiocy.

We may not have enough warriors to satisfy George W. Bush and the Pentagon, but we sure as hell don’t have enough Peace Corps volunteers to accomplish the cause of peace!


John Smart lives in Park Falls, Wisconsin, is a member of the Wisconsin Governor's Commission on the United Nations, the UN Association of the USA and Citizens for Global Solutions. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Uzbekistan from 1995 through 1998, serves on the Park Falls School Board, and chairs the Democratic Party of Price County.

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: November, 2007; Military; Iraq; Speaking Out; Protest; Peace Corps Niger; Directory of Niger RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Niger RPCVs; Peace Corps Uzbekistan; Directory of Uzbekistan RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Uzbekistan RPCVs

When this story was posted in November 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

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Dodd vows to filibuster Surveillance Act Senator Chris Dodd vowed to filibuster the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that would grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that helped this administration violate the civil liberties of Americans. "It is time to say: No more. No more trampling on our Constitution. No more excusing those who violate the rule of law. These are fundamental, basic, eternal principles. They have been around, some of them, for as long as the Magna Carta. They are enduring. What they are not is temporary. And what we do not do in a time where our country is at risk is abandon them."

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November 12, 2007: This Month's Top Stories Chris Dodd's service began with Peace Corps 9 Nov Matthew McCue called back to Iraq from Peace Corps 9 Nov Tschetter Visits Turkmenistan 9 Nov Lara Weber writes: Oprah Winfrey's stumble 9 Nov Heather Thompson works with P Diddy 7 Nov Karen Hughes' public diplomacy came to nothing 4 Nov James Rupert writes: Musharraf seizes power 3 Nov Martin Puryear is Man of Mysteries 2 Nov Sarah Chayes says Taliban score major victory 1 Nov John Sullivan runs Sudan Divestment Task Force. 30 Oct Tom Bissell writes: Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro 28 Oct Chris Shays to seek 12th term 25 Oct Helen Dudley can't stop giving 25 Oct Joseph Acaba named to STS-119 Shuttle Crew 22 Oct Vince Floriani in USA Today's All-USA Teacher Team 22 Oct Kelly J. Morris writes "The Bight of Benin" 20 Oct Charles Shelan was Buddhist monk Wondam’s teacher 19 Oct Peace Corps returning to Liberia 18 Oct David Peckham started Village Bicycle Project 16 Oct Alberto Ibarguen announces grant for "Project Impunity" 15 Oct Campbell Memorial Park boosts ecotourism 15 Oct Bowers Family keep daughter's dream alive 15 Oct

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What is the greatest threat facing us now? "People will say it's terrorism. But are there any terrorists in the world who can change the American way of life or our political system? No. Can they knock down a building? Yes. Can they kill somebody? Yes. But can they change us? No. Only we can change ourselves. So what is the great threat we are facing? I would approach this differently, in almost Marshall-like terms. What are the great opportunities out there - ones that we can take advantage of?" Read more.

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Senator Dodd's Peace Corps Hearings Read PCOL's executive summary of Senator Chris Dodd's hearings on July 25 on the Peace Corps Volunteer Empowerment Act and why Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter does not believe the bill would contribute to an improved Peace Corps while four other RPCV witnesses do. Highlights of the hearings included Dodd's questioning of Tschetter on political meetings at Peace Corps Headquarters and the Inspector General's testimony on the re-opening of the Walter Poirier III investigation.

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Paul Theroux: Peace Corps Writer Paul Theroux began by writing about the life he knew in Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer. His first first three novels are set in Africa and two of his later novels recast his Peace Corps tour as fiction. Read about how Theroux involved himself with rebel politicians, was expelled from Malawi, and how the Peace Corps tried to ruin him financially in John Coyne's analysis and appreciation of one of the greatest American writers of his generation (who also happens to be an RPCV).

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Ambassador revokes clearance for PC Director A post made on PCOL from volunteers in Tanzania alleges that Ambassador Retzer has acted improperly in revoking the country clearance of Country Director Christine Djondo. A statement from Peace Corps' Press Office says that the Peace Corps strongly disagrees with the ambassador’s decision. On June 8 the White House announced that Retzer is being replaced as Ambassador. Latest: Senator Dodd has placed a hold on Mark Green's nomination to be Ambassador to Tanzania.

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Suspect confesses in murder of PCV Search parties in the Philippines discovered the body of Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell near Barangay Batad, Banaue town on April 17. Director Tschetter expressed his sorrow at learning the news. “Julia was a proud member of the Peace Corps family, and she contributed greatly to the lives of Filipino citizens in Donsol, Sorsogon, where she served,” he said. Latest: Suspect Juan Duntugan admits to killing Campbell. Leave your thoughts and condolences .

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He served with honor One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor.

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