Brainerd Area Coalition for Peace (BACP) held our monthly meeting on Monday, March 7.   The meeting took place online via the Zoom website.   (BACP plans to hold our monthly meetings online via Zoom until at least April).   Judi Schiller, Richard Schiller, Donna Bowen, Dave Maciewski, and Doug Olson joined the BACP meeting.

The BACP meeting began with a moment of reflection for former BACP member Richard Kotlarz.   Richard passed away in Minneapolis on Monday, February 28.   Richard was active in BACP for many years before he moved to Minneapolis in 2007.    Richard, a Vietnam War veteran, marched in the BACP Brainerd Fourth of July parade unit in his dress uniform carrying the American flag.   Richard believed abolishing the Federal Reserve would make it more difficult for the U.S. to wage war.   A talented writer and speaker, Richard wrote many articles and gave several speeches.   He spoke in the Brainerd public library in November 2008 for BACP.

Richard's family and friends miss him.   His dedication to peace and justice will never be forgotten.


The BACP meeting discussed the Ukraine War.   Meeting participants shared their thoughts on the war.   All agreed there should be peace in Ukraine.   Everyone rejected the U.S. doing anything which prolongs the war or risks a war between the U.S. and Russia.

Doug will write a Statement on the Ukraine War on behalf of BACP.   Richard and Judi will post the BACP Statement on the Ukraine War on the BACP website and Doug will post the statement on the BACP Facebook page after the statement is forwarded to the BACP listserv for approval by fellow BACP members.

The BACP Statement on the Ukraine War will include:

Support for an armistice ending the fighting between Russia and Ukraine and a peace settlement ending the war.

Rejection of U.S. involvement in the Ukraine War.   BACP opposes the U.S. sending weapons to Ukraine, U.S. advisors training Ukrainian troops, U.S. troops being deployed to Ukraine, and the imposition of a no-fly zone over Ukraine.   These actions prolong the Ukraine War and risk a war between the U.S. and Russia.

Opposition to a harsh U.S. sanctions regime on Russia.   Sanctions harm people who have no control over their government's policies.  BACP also opposes the U.S. cutting off cultural ties with Russia.

NATO should disband.   NATO wages aggressive wars.   NATO's expansion into Eastern Europe deeply antagonizes Russia.   NATO expansion violates a promise made in 1990 to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev not to expand NATO one inch east of the newly reunified Germany.   NATO also broke a 1997 agreement with Russia not to deploy NATO troops or missiles, build bases, or conduct military exercises in any new NATO member nation in Eastern Europe.

Support the right of self-determination for Donbas region residents.   The Donbas is a Russian-speaking region in eastern Ukraine.  Donbas residents,  who strongly identify with Russia, rebelled against the coup regime the U.S. and EU helped install in Ukraine after the overthrow of Ukraine's democratically-elected President in February 2014.   The Ukrainian government, which included extreme nationalists and Nazi groups (i.e. Right Sector, Svoboda, and the Azov Battalion), used brutal force to try to crush the rebellion.
A civil war ensued in the Donbas region for the next eight years.   The civil war killed 14,000 people.  An internationally supervised referendum could be held after the Ukraine War ends to give Donbas residents the choice between becoming an autonomous region in Ukraine or becoming an independent nation.

Support for the U.S. Senate ratifying the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.   The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons became law in January 2021 when the 50th nation ratified the treaty.    The U.S. and Russia joining the treaty and eliminating their nuclear weapons would prevent a misunderstanding between the two nations from becoming a nuclear war.

[Fellow BACP members approved the proposed BACP Statement on the Ukraine War in discussions held on the BACP listserv.   The BACP Statement on the Ukraine War was posted on the BACP website and BACP Facebook page.   With the encouragement of Dorothy Wolden, the spokesperson for the Northland Chapter of Grandmothers for Peace, and Phil Anderson, the President of Veterans for Peace, Chapter 80 (Duluth/Superior), Doug will submit the statement to the Duluth News Tribune as an op-ed.   Phil submitted the statement to the Wisconsin Middle News newsletter and website based in Wausau, Wisconsin]. 


Meeting participants discussed possibly holding a peace vigil specific to the Ukraine War.   Meeting participants decided to continue the discussion at the Brainerd Area Joint  Democracy Group meeting on Thursday, March 17.   BACP members could ask other Brainerd Area Joint Democracy Group participating organizations (Brainerd Lakes Area Democratic Socialists of America, Brainerd Lakers United for the Environment, Lakes Area Move to Amend, and Brainerd Lakes Pride) if they would support a peace vigil on the Ukraine War.
[Only four people joined the Brainerd Area Joint Democracy Group meeting.   Doug discussed the BACP Statement on the Ukraine War and mentioned the possibility of BACP holding a peace vigil on the Ukraine War but no specific plans for a peace vigil were made at the meeting because of the low turnout.   Instead, BACP members can discuss at our Monday, April 4 meeting if BACP should hold a peace vigil specific to the Ukraine War or hold a Spring peace vigil that is not exclusively about the Ukraine War].


BACP will hold our next monthly meeting on Monday, April 4 at 7 p.m.   The BACP meeting will be held online via the Zoom website.  The meeting will last 40 minutes, the maximum amount of time Zoom provides for free meetings.   A Zoom link to the BACP meeting will be provided in the BACP meeting notice.


The BACP meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.   


BACP Meeting Notes Submitted by Doug Olson