The Road of Bones

Blessings come in many forms and in the spirit of Easter, we offer our
gratitude to all our wonderful volunteers and thousands of supporters.

The volunteer board members of the Crawford Peace have recently been
accused in the media of malfeasance and abuse of the public trust.
While we are deeply saddened and shocked by the mean spiritedness of
the personal attacks levelled against our directors, we completely
understand the need for transparency and accountability. We take our
responsibility to bear witness to peace and justice, very seriously.
We value the confidence thousands of people worldwide have placed in
our work.

To our accusers we say, it would have been a lot easier if they had
simply asked to see the books (which were always available at the
Peace House). We request they direct their demand for accountability
towards our government that has 'misplaced' billions of dollars and
continues to squander our national treasure in Iraq.

As of Friday April 6, all relevant documents including federal tax
returns and state franchise tax documents have been filed with the
proper agencies. The documents can be reviewed on the CPH website.

Since its inception the Crawford Peace House has faced and survived
many challenges. We have managed a 'peace' presence close to the
Western White House in a community openly hostile. We have
facilitated the right of thousands of Americans to non-violently and
safely protest the actions of our government in a small rural Texas
town, not equipped to handle a ten fold, and sometimes a hundred fold,
increase in its population. We established a trustworthy relationship
with the local Police Department and made overtures to local civic and
political leaders about our desire to be 'good neighbors'.

We created and operated a city in the middle of nowhere. We fed
thousands of hungry people, gave them water when they were thirsty and
gave them a place to stay when they needed shelter. In 2005 we spent
$45,000 on food and $7000 on porta potties alone.

The Crawford Peace House has called for peace over the past 4 years in
response to the drums of war and the need for our presence here today
is just as great. We will continue to welcome communities of peace who
make the pilgrimage here to speak truth to power.

I'm in Crawford right now, and I've been talking to the individuals involved in this. I have seen their financial records, albeit not yet in great detail. I've got an inside angle on this story, and I'll be developing it more fully soon.

But from what I can tell, the SwiftBoating of the Crawford Peace House is little more than empty accusations and attempts to disrupt the peace movement here in Texas.

This is a non-story story. And I'll have the full story soon.