By the undersigned, October 5, 2022
To the Editorial Board of the Washington Post
We would like to request at your convenience a brief in-person or online meeting to discuss Ukraine.
We have not been able to find in your pages any opposition to weapons shipments or advocacy for ceasefire and negotiation — despite the recent advocacy for just that by 66 nations at the United Nations, and the support for it by various governments around the world since February.
We have not seen in your paper any raising of awareness about the risk of nuclear apocalypse or steps that could be taken and are being taken by many nations toward nuclear disarmament.
Your editorial of October 3 is very unclear on what the U.S. government or anyone other that the Russian government should do, but supports threatening “severe consequences” while apparently hoping not to have to follow through.
We have read in your paper numerous opinions and reports in favor of war, including even the reassurance that the U.S. has nuclear weapons: “Before we panic over Putin’s reckless threats, let’s remember that we have nearly as many nuclear weapons as Russia.” We believe that you can imagine why we find that information less than reassuring, and in fact panic inducing rather than panic relieving.
Some U.S. polling suggests that what is missing from your pages is supported by a majority of people in the United States.
Some media studies have found that the Post, among other outlets, has exercised double standards on self-determination, on the roots of the war, on the provocation of war, and on the victims of wars.
We’d be grateful for a chance to briefly discuss this matter.
Sincerely,
Medea Benjamin, Cofounder, CODEPINK for Peace
Dr. Jim Driscoll, Veterans For Peace, former professor, MIT
Susan Kerin, Chair, Peace Action Montgomery
David Swanson, executive director of World BEYOND War, campaign coordinator of RootsAction.org
Marcy Winograd, Cochair, Foreign Policy Team, Progressive Democrats of America
Thank you.