wrbones
01-29-03, 06:26 PM
>From: NO WAR <columbusnion@yahoo.com>
>
>Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2003 12:36:07 -0800 (PST)
>
>
>This is a letter of conscience I recieved and think is important to
>distribute, especially to those who still think that a US invasion of Iraq
>is a good thing. It is important because it comes from the very people who
>have been a part of the US military. I hope that it can shed some light
>and provide you with a perspective that isn't put out by the media.
>
>Important Call to Conscience from Veterans to Troops and Reservists
>Started December 6, 2002, signatures up to date as of January 9, 2003
>We are veterans of the United States armed forces. We stand with the
>majority of humanity, including millions in our own country, in
>opposition to the United States' all out war on Iraq. We span many wars
>and eras, have many political views and we all agree that this war is
>wrong. Many of us believed serving in the military was our duty, and
>our job was to defend this country. Our experiences in the military
>caused us to question much of what we were taught. Now we see our REAL
>duty is to encourage you as members of the U.S. armed forces to find
>out what you are being sent to fight and die for and what the
>consequences of your actions will be for humanity. We call upon you,
>the active duty and reservists, to follow your conscience and do the
>right thing.
>
>In the last Gulf War, as troops, we were ordered to murder from a safe
>distance. We destroyed much of Iraq from the air, killing hundreds of
>thousands, including civilians. We remember the road to Basra-the Highway
>of Death-where we were ordered to kill fleeing Iraqis. We bulldozed
>trenches, burying people alive. The use of depleted uranium weapons left
>the battlefields radioactive. Massive use of pesticides, experimental
>drugs, burning chemical weapons depots and oil fires combined to create a
>toxic cocktail affecting both the Iraqi people and Gulf War veterans today.
>One in four Gulf War veterans is disabled.
>
>During the Vietnam War we were ordered to destroy Vietnam from the air
>and
>on the ground. At My Lai we massacred over 500 women, children and old men.
>This was not an aberration, it's how we fought the war. We used Agent
>Orange on the enemy and then experienced first hand its effects. We know
>what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder looks, feels and tastes like because
>the ghosts of over two million men, women and children still haunt our
>dreams. More of us took our own lives after returning home than died in
>battle.
>
>If you choose to participate in the invasion of Iraq you will be part
>of an
>occupying army. Do you know what it is like to look into the eyes of a
>people that hate you to your core? You should think about what your
>"mission" really is. You are being sent to invade and occupy a people who,
>like you and me, are only trying to live their lives and raise their kids.
>They pose no threat to the United States even though they have a brutal
>dictator as their leader. Who is the U.S. to tell the Iraqi people how to
>run their country when many in the U.S. don't even believe their own
>President was legally elected?
>
>Saddam is being vilified for gassing his own people and trying to
>develop
>weapons of mass destruction. However, when Saddam committed his worst
>crimes the U.S. was supporting him. This support included providing the
>means to produce chemical and biological weapons. Contrast this with the
>horrendous results of the U.S. led economic sanctions. More than a million
>Iraqis, mainly children and infants, have died because of these sanctions.
>After having destroyed the entire infrastructure of their country including
>hospitals, electricity generators, and water treatment plants, the U.S.
>then, with the sanctions, stopped the import of goods, medicines, parts,
>and chemicals necessary to restore even the most basic necessities of life.
>
>There is no honor in murder. This war is murder by another name. When,
>in
>an unjust war, an errant bomb dropped kills a mother and her child it is
>not "collateral damage," it is murder. When, in an unjust war, a child dies
>of dysentery because a bomb damaged a sewage treatment plant, it is not
>"destroying enemy infrastructure," it is murder. When, in an unjust war, a
>father dies of a heart attack because a bomb disrupted the phone lines so
>he could not call an ambulance, it is not "neutralizing command and control
>facilities," it is murder. When, in an unjust war, a thousand poor farmer
>conscripts die in a trench defending a town they have lived in their whole
>lives, it is not victory, it is murder.
>
>There will be veterans leading protests against this war on Iraq and
>your
>participation in it. During the Vietnam War thousands in Vietnam and in the
>U.S. refused to follow orders. Many resisted and rebelled. Many became
>conscientious objectors and others went to prison rather than bear arms
>against the so-called enemy. During the last Gulf War many GIs resisted in
>various ways and for many different reasons. Many of us came out of these
>wars and joined with the anti-war movement.
>
>If the people of the world are ever to be free, there must come a time
>when
>being a citizen of the world takes precedence over being the soldier of a
>nation. Now is that time. When orders come to ship out, your response will
>profoundly impact the lives of millions of people in the Middle East and
>here at home. Your response will help set the course of our future. You
>will have choices all along the way. Your commanders want you to obey. We
>urge you to think. We urge you to make your choices based on your
>conscience. If you choose to resist, we will support you and stand with you
>because we have come to understand that our REAL duty is to the people of
>the world and to our common future.
>RESOURCES:
>If you have questions or doubts about your role in the military (for any
>reason) or in this war, help is available. Contact one of the organizations
>listed below. They can discuss your situation and concerns, give you
>information on your legal rights, and help you sort out your possible
>choices. (For information only, listed organizations are not responsible
>for this veterans' statement.)
>
Cont.
>
>Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2003 12:36:07 -0800 (PST)
>
>
>This is a letter of conscience I recieved and think is important to
>distribute, especially to those who still think that a US invasion of Iraq
>is a good thing. It is important because it comes from the very people who
>have been a part of the US military. I hope that it can shed some light
>and provide you with a perspective that isn't put out by the media.
>
>Important Call to Conscience from Veterans to Troops and Reservists
>Started December 6, 2002, signatures up to date as of January 9, 2003
>We are veterans of the United States armed forces. We stand with the
>majority of humanity, including millions in our own country, in
>opposition to the United States' all out war on Iraq. We span many wars
>and eras, have many political views and we all agree that this war is
>wrong. Many of us believed serving in the military was our duty, and
>our job was to defend this country. Our experiences in the military
>caused us to question much of what we were taught. Now we see our REAL
>duty is to encourage you as members of the U.S. armed forces to find
>out what you are being sent to fight and die for and what the
>consequences of your actions will be for humanity. We call upon you,
>the active duty and reservists, to follow your conscience and do the
>right thing.
>
>In the last Gulf War, as troops, we were ordered to murder from a safe
>distance. We destroyed much of Iraq from the air, killing hundreds of
>thousands, including civilians. We remember the road to Basra-the Highway
>of Death-where we were ordered to kill fleeing Iraqis. We bulldozed
>trenches, burying people alive. The use of depleted uranium weapons left
>the battlefields radioactive. Massive use of pesticides, experimental
>drugs, burning chemical weapons depots and oil fires combined to create a
>toxic cocktail affecting both the Iraqi people and Gulf War veterans today.
>One in four Gulf War veterans is disabled.
>
>During the Vietnam War we were ordered to destroy Vietnam from the air
>and
>on the ground. At My Lai we massacred over 500 women, children and old men.
>This was not an aberration, it's how we fought the war. We used Agent
>Orange on the enemy and then experienced first hand its effects. We know
>what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder looks, feels and tastes like because
>the ghosts of over two million men, women and children still haunt our
>dreams. More of us took our own lives after returning home than died in
>battle.
>
>If you choose to participate in the invasion of Iraq you will be part
>of an
>occupying army. Do you know what it is like to look into the eyes of a
>people that hate you to your core? You should think about what your
>"mission" really is. You are being sent to invade and occupy a people who,
>like you and me, are only trying to live their lives and raise their kids.
>They pose no threat to the United States even though they have a brutal
>dictator as their leader. Who is the U.S. to tell the Iraqi people how to
>run their country when many in the U.S. don't even believe their own
>President was legally elected?
>
>Saddam is being vilified for gassing his own people and trying to
>develop
>weapons of mass destruction. However, when Saddam committed his worst
>crimes the U.S. was supporting him. This support included providing the
>means to produce chemical and biological weapons. Contrast this with the
>horrendous results of the U.S. led economic sanctions. More than a million
>Iraqis, mainly children and infants, have died because of these sanctions.
>After having destroyed the entire infrastructure of their country including
>hospitals, electricity generators, and water treatment plants, the U.S.
>then, with the sanctions, stopped the import of goods, medicines, parts,
>and chemicals necessary to restore even the most basic necessities of life.
>
>There is no honor in murder. This war is murder by another name. When,
>in
>an unjust war, an errant bomb dropped kills a mother and her child it is
>not "collateral damage," it is murder. When, in an unjust war, a child dies
>of dysentery because a bomb damaged a sewage treatment plant, it is not
>"destroying enemy infrastructure," it is murder. When, in an unjust war, a
>father dies of a heart attack because a bomb disrupted the phone lines so
>he could not call an ambulance, it is not "neutralizing command and control
>facilities," it is murder. When, in an unjust war, a thousand poor farmer
>conscripts die in a trench defending a town they have lived in their whole
>lives, it is not victory, it is murder.
>
>There will be veterans leading protests against this war on Iraq and
>your
>participation in it. During the Vietnam War thousands in Vietnam and in the
>U.S. refused to follow orders. Many resisted and rebelled. Many became
>conscientious objectors and others went to prison rather than bear arms
>against the so-called enemy. During the last Gulf War many GIs resisted in
>various ways and for many different reasons. Many of us came out of these
>wars and joined with the anti-war movement.
>
>If the people of the world are ever to be free, there must come a time
>when
>being a citizen of the world takes precedence over being the soldier of a
>nation. Now is that time. When orders come to ship out, your response will
>profoundly impact the lives of millions of people in the Middle East and
>here at home. Your response will help set the course of our future. You
>will have choices all along the way. Your commanders want you to obey. We
>urge you to think. We urge you to make your choices based on your
>conscience. If you choose to resist, we will support you and stand with you
>because we have come to understand that our REAL duty is to the people of
>the world and to our common future.
>RESOURCES:
>If you have questions or doubts about your role in the military (for any
>reason) or in this war, help is available. Contact one of the organizations
>listed below. They can discuss your situation and concerns, give you
>information on your legal rights, and help you sort out your possible
>choices. (For information only, listed organizations are not responsible
>for this veterans' statement.)
>
Cont.