Robert Pickus
"peace activist" Robert Pickus     (spook) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | October 31, 1923 |
| Died | January 22, 2016 (Age 92) St. Helena, California |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago, London School of Economics |
| Religion | quaker |
| Founder of | National Endowment for Democracy |
| Member of | Office of Strategic Services |
| Interests | peace movement |
Spooky "peace activist" who proposed that in "the current political climate, war is essential for justice to prevail". | |
Robert Pickus was a prominent figure in Quaker, pacifist, and peace movements, but with a type of activism where he did not particularly oppose actual US wars.[1] A spook with the OSS since World War 2, Pickus was a consultant to the CIA front organization National Endowment for Democracy.
Early life
Pickus was born in Sioux City, Iowa. He entered the University of Chicago in 1941 and studied under Hans Morgenthau and was a research assistant to Mortimer Adler for the Great Books of the Western World program.[2]
During World War 2 he worked in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in Sweden and Great Britain.[2][3]
In 1950, he undertook Fulbright study at the London School of Economics.[4]
"Peace activist"
In the 1950s, Pickus called for a pacifist statement that became Speak Truth to Power: A Quaker Search for an Alternative to Violence (1955). He was founder of Turn Toward Peace (1961), and World Without War Council (1969); and co-author with Robert Woito of To End War: an Introduction to the Ideas, Books, Organizations, and Work That Can Help (1970).
In the mid-1960s Pickus attacked "radical pacifists and leftists" in movement against the US military intervention in Vietnam, whom he accused of being "naively one-sided in their criticism of American foreign policy".[5][3] The problem "is not just to condemn violence, but to work out a way to counter the other side’s violence."[6] In a speech at Berkeley in May 1965, "he challenged students and faculty alike to think beyond the tired over-simplifications of 'withdraw from Vietnam now' in order to face some serious questions: 'Why are you withdrawing, to what end? Are you withdrawing to aid in achieving a stable settlement there? Do you want to see an international presence there that will guarantee that the opposition is not murdered?'[3]
Pickus was a consultant to groups ranging from the National Endowment for Democracy and the National Association of Evangelicals to the National Catholic Education Association and the National Council on Philanthropy In 1985, he launched the James Madison Foundation, under the leadership of his colleague, the Catholic theologian George Weigel. [6]
In a 2001 interview, Pickus argued that in "the current political climate, war is essential for justice to prevail".[7] He said that the World Without War Council supported actions such as the bombing of Taliban radio systems, provided civilians were given advance warning.[7] Pickus also stated he regarded the United States as a benevolent force in world affairs.[7]
He was a member of the Committee of 100 for Tibet.[8]
Contras
His World Without War Council (WWWC) promoted the US tour of Humberto Belli and Contra leader Arturo Cruz. Belli was the former editor of La Prensa and who started the Puebla Instiute in Michigan in co-operation with the Sword of Spirit, a Catholic charismatic group, and Ciudad de Dios ("City of God"), the Hispanic version of Sword of Spirit.[9].
Death
Pickus died on January 22, 2016, in St. Helena, California.
References
- ↑ http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?pid=177443763
- ↑ a b https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf167n984w/entire_text/
- ↑ a b c https://web.archive.org/web/20160126010930/https://www.nationalreview.com/article/430243/robert-pickus-american-original/
- ↑ https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/nytimes/name/robert-pickus-obituary?id=52130738
- ↑ DeBenedetti, Charles; Chatfield, Charles (1990). An American Ordeal: The Antiwar Movement of the Vietnam Era. Syracuse University Press. pp. 64, 95. ISBN 0-8156-0245-6.
- ↑ a b https://www.demdigest.org/american-original-robert-pickus-spoke-truth-to-power/
- ↑ a b c http://archive.dailycal.org/article.php?id=6503
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20240123075454/http://www.c100tibet.org/Committee_Members.html
- ↑ https://www.angelfire.com/tn/bizarrotom/
