GEOGRAPHIES OF RESISTANCE
AROUND FORT LEWIS, WASHINGTON
Dr. Zoltán Grossman, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA
http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz
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70% of Nisqually Reservation
confiscated for Fort Lewis, 1917
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People’s Geography of American Empire
class visiting Nisqually Nation
Fort Lewis Military Museum
Major base in Vietnam War
Hotbed of Vietnam-era GI movement
Gulf War
Iraq War
Stryker Brigades in Iraq
Brigades based at Fort Lewis WA and Fort Wainwright AK
Stryker Brigades in Iraq
50+ Fort Lewis soldiers died in Iraq or Afghanistan deployments
Largest Army base on West Coast
Wartime expansion
as other bases downsize;
New officer housing
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Artillery test range;
Chinooks, C-17s
at McChord AFB
Social crisis and PTSD
in families, bar fights,
robberies, car accidents
Progressive anti-war communities
Olympia
Tacoma
Polarization at Fort Lewis
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Operation
Pro-war leader
Support
JeffOur
Brigham
Troops
with
leader
“GodJeff
Bless
Brigham
Israeli with
bulldozers”
sign
against
sign
Evergreen
against Rachel
student
Corrie
Rachel Corrie (killed in Gaza)
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Confrontations at
“Freedom Bridge”
by Fort Lewis
Ironic common ground:
Soldiers / military families,
and anti-war activists are the
only Americans who care
that there’s a war on….
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Confrontations at
“Freedom Bridge”
by Fort Lewis
Peace activists lobbied local
governments since 2004 to not
let our ports ship Strykers to Iraq
Public ports should not be
complicit in the war effort
Chronology of Dissent
• Port of Tacoma I, March 2007
• Port of Olympia I, May 2006
• Port of Grays Harbor, May 2007
• Watada refusal, June 2006
• Port of Olympia II, Nov. 2007
• Citizens’ Hearing, Jan. 2007
•Port of Tacoma II, July-Aug. 2008
• Watada court martial, Feb. 2007
• GI organizing, 2008
•
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Port of Olympia,
Round I
(3rd Brigade),
May 2006
Human chain blockades
of College/HS students, others
Civil disobedience
Police batons, rubber bullets, pepper spray
37 arrests;
$14,000 security costs
Olympia 22:
none convicted
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GI Refusers:
Sgt. Kevin
Benderman
Visible rallies at I-5 overpass by Fort Lewis
Sgt. Ricky
Clousing
Spc. Suzanne
Swift
Lt. Ehren Watada refuses to deploy
with 3rd Stryker Brigade,
June 2006
First commissioned officer
refusing to go to Iraq
Rallies grow at Exit 119
Veterans for Peace march
in July 4th parade
Lt. Watada calls for refusal of illegal orders
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Backed by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW)
at Veterans for Peace national conference in Seattle
Vets, military families back
Watada before court martial
Watada unable to present
case of war’s illegality
Denis Col. Ann
Halliday Wright
Francis
Boyle
Citizens’ Hearing puts
Iraq War on trial, Jan. 2007
Experts testify at Iraq War
“tribunal” at Evergreen
Col. Ann
Wright
Experts testify at Iraq War
“tribunal” at Evergreen
Daniel
Ellsberg
Veterans on citizens’ panel
applaud Iraq vet testifiers
net
Watada court martial ends
in mistrial, Feb. 2007
Port of Tacoma I,
4th Brigade,
March 2007
Containers (power of globalization)
and Police, Army (power of state)
Strykers moved at night to avoid protests
Police training intensified since WTO, 9/11
Police brought in from all over state
Three protest leaders arrested
Police brutality on
YouTube within hours
Police tase and drag Navy vet
Cops shoot rubber bullets, tear gas
at sitting protesters singing
“Give Peace a Chance”
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“Soft arrests” at last Tacoma port protest
Fort Lewis equipment shipped from
Port of Grays Harbor (Aberdeen), May 2007
“Shell game” among ports:
who pays bill for security costs?
Port of Olympia,
Round II,
Nov. 6, 2007
Protests and Counterprotests
Anti-war Iraq vet and
Evergreen student
Josh Simpson
Pro-war leader
Jeff Brigham
Trucks carry Strykers
returning for repairs
Blockades “contain” port for many hours
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Army, Police
and Port confer
Military shipments are now 40% of port’s income
Shorthanded police under pressure;
prioritize force over expensive arrests
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Police pepper spray faces,
Nov. 10, 2007
Women’s port blockade,
Nov. 13, 2007
Counterprotesters threaten
and harass protesters
Police make arrests of women
as counterprotesters cheer
Police decide to stop arrests,
don gas masks to clear street
Police pepper spray crowd;
drag protesters
Stryker convoy leaves port
as police use stun grenades
Police attack even along “legal” sidewalks
Protesters return to port
Attack provokes property
damage through the night
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“Don’t Hide the Violence”
in Iraq or Olympia
Spirited rally after 66 arrests,
$112,000 in security costs,
Nov. 16, 2007
Port of Tacoma II, July-Aug. 2008
Smaller (less broad-based) protests use mobile tactics at I-5 exits;
Overwhelming police presence; 15 arrests (incl. videographer).
Protests against returning Strykers; more set to deploy to Iraq
Sympathy from soldiers at port blockades;
GIs cannot speak openly
Civilian protest encourages GI resistance;
GI resistance encourages civilian protest
IVAW organizing
at Fort Lewis, 2008
Quiet organizers who stay in
the Army can be more effective
than open public resisters
(peace movement heros)
who leave the Army
Winter Soldier hearings,
Washington DC,
March 2008
Northwest
Winter Soldier,
Seattle, May 2008
21st-century GI movement:
Internet radio webstream
“Cyber-coffeehouse” for military community
“Coffee Strong” Internet Café in Lakewood
Similar coffeehouses at Fort Drum NY, Fort Hood TX
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GI movement inside,
Civilian movement outside:
both need each other
Port Militarization Resistance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Militarization_Resistance
Olympia Movement for Justice & Peace www.omjp.org
Students for a Democratic Society (Tacoma) www.tacomasds.org
Iraq Veterans Against the War www.ivaw.org
Veterans for Peace www.veteransforpeace.org, www.vfp109rcc.org
Thank You Lt. Watada www.thankyoult.org
Courage to Resist www.couragetoresist.org
Citizens' Hearing on the Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq www.wartribunal.net
GI Voice www.GIvoice.org and GI Radio www.GIradio.org
Works in Progress monthly newspaper http://www.olywip.org
YouTube videos www.youtube.com/zoltangrossman