Committed anti-war group holds weekly peace vigil

Published 1:02 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

NORTH BEND – Nothing about the U.S. policy in the Middle East really sits well with Bill Hayden.

For the Snoqualmie Elementary School teacher, his worries began the first few days after the Sept. 11 attacks started the White House talking about revenge and retribution.

“I started worrying the moment he [President George W. Bush] opened his mouth,” Hayden said.

Hayden’s worries may have begun in the days after Sept. 11, but they had their roots in the reflections he had of the Gulf War in 1990-1991. Hayden said that he was never really sure why the United States and its allies attacked Iraq and came to believe later that a lot of what he heard from the media and government regarding the war was wrong.

“I believed that the smart missiles were hitting their targets, and that wasn’t true. I believed that Iraqis had broken into hospitals and killed babies, and that wasn’t true,” Hayden said. “I believed those things. But then I started listening to alternative news sources. They offered other experiences than what is usually reported.”

Hayden also believes that whatever crimes or problems the United States is dealing with, bombing another country is not going to solve anything.

“Howard Zinn [retired history professor and author], who flew bombers in World War II, said that women and children are the ones who die in bombing,” Hayden said. “You can’t solve a problem with violence.”

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