Iraqi civilian casualties are equally important
Soapbox published in the Coloradoan on December 24, 2011
Most reporting and commentary in the U.S. media on the end of the occupation of Iraq focus on the impact of the violence in that country on the U.S. military. The Pentagon's figure of nearly 4,500 troop deaths is very likely to be cited. In the less likely event that Iraqi civilian deaths are mentioned, the source most often referenced is Iraq Body Count, or IBC, which estimates that between 104,000 and 114,000 Iraqis died as a result of the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation.
However, the IBC figures understate the true number of civilian casualties, due to that organization's requirement that each death be documented as the result of violence. This approach does not account for either unreported violent deaths or deaths resulting from the breakdown of public health and sanitation systems caused by the invasion and occupation.
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We need solutions to our nation’s problems, not politics as usual
Soapbox published in the Coloradoan on November 14, 2011
While the majority of people in the United States are struggling to find work and worrying about how to pay bills, rent, taxes and feed their families, Congress debated a commemorative coin for baseball and reaffirmed "In God We Trust" as our national motto, even though no one proposed changing the motto. It is our opinion that these actions were a meaningless distraction from the nation's real problems.
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Meaning of “Strength Through Peace”
Adapted from a message to the Ft. Collins Mennonite Fellowship delivered
by Kevin Cross on July 4th, 2010
In a nutshell, the name of our organization means that pursuing truly peaceful policies toward other countries would make our society, as well as the societies with which we interact, stronger. The converse of that statement is that pursuing warlike policies toward other countries makes both “us” and “them” weaker, more fragile.
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