October 10, 2001
Three months ago, a group of 15 activists from Greenpeace drew international attention to the United States' "son of star wars" national missile defence system, when they were arrested at a Californian air force base.
Now world attention has shifted to a very different kind of war and the 15 activists and two photo-journalists who covered their protest are stranded in a judicial limbo, uncertain when they will come to trial, facing felony charges which could land them in jail for five years and unable to leave the country.
The defendants are now uncertain whether the events of September 11 will make it harder for them to have a fair trial, in that any protest could be portrayed as anti-American, or easier, in that judge and jurors will consider a non-violent protest to be barely worth considering in the light of what happened in New York and Washington.
Of the 17 arrested on July 14 at Vandenberg air force base, 10 are from outside the US, with three from the UK; Greenpeace activists John Wills and Bill Nandris and freelance photographer Steve Morgan. Others are from Germany, India, Australia, Sweden and Canada. Most of them are staying in a house rented by Greenpeace in Westwood, Los Angeles and all are restricted from moving beyond central California.
"People in the States are now feeling very strongly about all aspects of national defence," says Bill Nandris, as the three Britons emerge from a meeting in the Greenpeace house to talk in the back garden.
"Our reaction to the events [of September 11] is the same as everyone else - a shocking occurrence. It's obvious that this is a paradigm shift in the conflicts that we are going to be experiencing in the future."
That kind of event, whether or not it could have been foreseen, could not have been defended by national missile defence.
"In one way, people say: 'This [September 11] does justify missile defence, because we are under attack so we have to do everything to prepare ourselves', but I think it's obvious, considering the means that have been employed here, that it's aiming in the wrong direction.
"Greenpeace is still committed to its ideals but obviously in the present climate you have to recognise how people feel after an event like that. Since 9/11 people have been saying: 'it's going to be very difficult for you', because people are Americans first."
"You're walking on eggshells basically," says Steve Morgan, a photo-journalist from Frome, Somerset who has worked for the British national press around the world and is now also waiting trial in LA with his wife, Heather, and two small sons.
He says that there had been discussions as to whether a delay should be sought for the trial because of the current atmosphere.
"It's very strange being in this limbo," says Nandris. "Friends back in England are having babies and getting married."
John Wills, from Guernsey, said he had been looking forward to getting home after a long stretch on the Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace's campaign ship.
William Peden, Greenpeace's international disarmament campaigner, says that he believes the debate on national missile defence is even more relevant after September 11: "someone can do that just by buying an airline ticket and razor".
But he added that the campaign focus had had to change.
"We need to be sensitive to what has happened," he said. The elements of the campaign that were specifically critical of President Bush had been removed, he added.
Of the upcoming trial, now due for November 20, Peden said: "There has obviously been a lot of discussion but the feeling is that if we are allowed a fair trial and allowed to tell our story, the jury will give us a fair hearing."
Steve Morgan, as a journalist, is facing the same charges as the activists. His wife, Heather, said yesterday: "I think it's interesting that the Taliban seem able to release Yvonne Ridley who was arrested by them doing her job, but the United States still won't let Steve go although he was also just doing his job."
Many other environmental organisations have also changed immediate campaign plans. The Sierra Club has cancelled its current campaigns, mainly because many of them were critical of Bush.
Environmental groups that had opposed Bush's plans to drill for oil in the arctic national wild life refuge in Alaska are also now aware that their task will be harder. They fear that their protests may now be overridden in the current surge of national political unity and that, in an unstable world, those politicians who would have opposed drilling will now agree to it.
Just over a month ago, national missile defence and the drilling in Alaska were headline stories, major political issues. Now they rate barely a mention, although both are in their way just as relevant - perhaps even more so - as they were before the fateful day of September 11.
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