A veteran’s
perspective makes it
clear that two major points must be made in response to President
Obama’s
announcement regarding combat troops leaving Iraq.
First, there is no
such thing as
“non combat troops.”It is a
contradiction in terms.It is
internally inconsistent.It is
illogical.It is simply not
true.
Ask any of the
millions of men
and women who went through basic training and they can tell you that
every
U.S. troop anywhere in the world was
indoctrinated and trained in the basics of combat.While
in Iraq,
the transition from mechanics or communications back to combat-ready
soldier
takes but an order. “Non-combat
troops” is simply the latest in a long line of military euphemisms meant
to
obscure painful reality.
The second point can
best be made
by drafting a section of the President’s remarks for him.If
Veterans For Peace were to do that it
would read something like this.
-------
“And now, fellow
Americans, let
us begin a new era of candor and honesty about the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan.Specifically, I’m referring to the true
costs of war – something that must be considered if we are to judge if
continued
war is worth it.
You have seen that the
cost to
taxpayers of these wars has exceeded one trillion dollars, nearly all of
which
has been considered ‘off budget,’ appropriated by extraordinary or
‘supplemental’ spending bills.It
may be hard to believe that, large though that figure may be, it is but
the
smaller portion of what we will spend in total.
We are already
investing
unprecedented amounts in Veterans Administration staff and facilities to
try and
cope with the millions of men and women who have cycled through a war
zone
deployment – and of course many have been through multiple deployments.
Our experience thus
far tells us
to expect literally hundreds of thousands of cases of PTSD and Traumatic
Brain
Injuries – injuries that are often difficult to diagnose at first and
difficult
to treat.These are, of course, in
addition to the many thousands of visibly wounded who, at great expense,
must go
through rehabilitation and a lifetime of support in order to function to
their
fullest.Thousands more will
require years, perhaps decades, of long-term care because their injuries
have
left them so broken they require round-the-clock attention.
But since we are
initiating an
era of candor, we go farther – and by that I mean the cost to families,
communities and society as a whole.Volumes have literally been written on this point, but let me
leave you
with a brief example you can easily expand for yourself.
We have already heard
of the
abnormally high rate of suicides among returning veterans.The
real number is undoubtedly higher
since some will always remain a mystery.We’ve heard also of a growing tide of domestic violence that
leaves
families broken and terrorized.
Beyond the draining
medical,
psychological and emotional costs to the individuals directly involved,
imagine
the cost to the communities where this occurs: whole battalions of
police, fire,
EMT, courts, probation officers, social workers and sadly, prison guards
will be
needed to deal with the true costs of war.It is uncomfortable to admit, but this is indeed one area of the
economy
I can guarantee will grow significantly.
Then there is an
exponentially
greater cost borne by the people of Iraq and Afghanistan – greater in
every way:
emotionally, economically, in human suffering, in destroyed
opportunities, in
shattered lives and minds, in hearts that will remain forever broken.We can do precious little to repair much
of that kind of damage.But I can
tell you this, my fellow Americans, we must at least pay the bill to
rebuild the
roads, water and sewer plants, hospitals, schools and residences we have
destroyed.
It is not pleasant to
describe
such things and indeed, these costs will continue to weigh heavily on
our nation
well into our grandchildren’s generation.But we cannot pretend otherwise.”
-------
This is the message
that should
come from the White House tonight if truth were indeed the coin of the
realm.We won’t hear it, but that
will make it no less true.
august 14, 2010
THE IRAQ DEBACLE: THE LEGACY OF SEVEN YEARS OF WAR
We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, mark the August
31st partial withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq with the following
evaluation and recommendations:
The U.S. occupation of Iraq continues and the reduction of U.S.
troops in Iraq can at best be called only a rebranded occupation. While
the number of U.S. troops in Iraq will be reduced from a high of
165,000, there will still be 50,000 troops left behind, some 75,000
contractors, five huge “enduring bases” and an Embassy the size of
Vatican City.
The U.S. military’s overthrow of the brutal dictatorship of Saddam
Hussein did not lead to a better life for Iraqis—just the opposite. It
resulted in the further destruction of basic infrastructure—electricity,
water, sewage—that continues to this day. The U.S. dropped more tons of
bombs on Iraq than in all of WWII, destroying Iraq’s electrical, water
and sewage systems. Iraq’s health care and higher education systems,
once the best in the entire region, have been decimated. The U.S. war on
Iraq unleashed a wave of violence that has left over one million Iraqis
dead and four million displaced, as well as ethnic rivalries that
continue to plague the nation. We have seriously wounded millions of
Iraqis, creating a lifetime of suffering and economic hardship for them,
their communities and the entire nation as it struggles to rebuild.
Life expectancy for Iraqis fell from 71 years in 1996 to 67 years
in 2007 due to the war and destruction of the healthcare system. The
U.S. use of weapons such as depleted uranium and white phosphorous has
taken a severe toll, with the cancer rate in Fallujah, for example, now
worse than that of Hiroshima.
The majority of the refugees and internally displaced persons
created by the US intervention have been abandoned. Of the nearly 4
million refugees, many are now living in increasingly desperate
circumstances in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and around the world. As
undocumented refugees, most are not allowed to work and are forced to
take extremely low paying, illegal jobs ($3/day) or rely on the UN and
charity to survive. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has
documented a spike in the sex trafficking of Iraqi women.
Iraq still does not have a functioning government. Many months
after the March 7 elections, there is still a political vacuum and
violence that is killing roughly 300 civilians a month. There is no
functioning democracy in place and little sign there will be one in the
near future.
The Iraq War has left a terrible toll on the U.S. troops. More than
one million American service members have deployed in the Iraq War
effort. Over 4,400 U.S. troops have been killed and tens of thousands
severely injured. More than one in four U.S. troops have come home from
the Iraq war with health problems that require medical or mental health
treatment. PTSD rates in the military have skyrocketed. In 2009, a
record number of 245 soldiers committed suicide.
The war has drained our treasury. As of August 2010, U.S. taxpayers
have spent over $750 billion on the Iraq War effort. Counting the cost
of lifetime care of wounded vets and the interest payments on the money
we borrowed to pay for this war, the real cost will be in the trillions.
This misappropriation of funds has contributed to the economic crises
we are experiencing, including the lack of funds for our schools,
healthcare, infrastructure and investments in clean, green jobs.
The U.S. officials who got us into this disastrous war on the basis
of lies have not been held accountable. Not George Bush, Dick Cheney,
Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld. No one.
Neither have the Bush administration lawyers who authorized torture,
including Jay Bybee and John Yoo. The “think tanks,” journalists and
pundits who perpetuated the lies have not been fired—most are today
cheerleading for the war in Afghanistan.
The war has led to the pillaging of Iraqi resources. The U.S.
Department of Defense has been unable to account for $8.7 billion of
Iraqi oil and gas money meant for humanitarian needs and reconstruction
after the 2003 invasion. The invasion has also led to the dismantling of
Iraqi government control over the nation’s oil. In 2001, Vice President
Dick Cheney’s energy task force, which included executives of America’s
largest energy companies, recommended opening up areas of their energy
sectors to foreign investment. The resulting Iraq Oil Law has led to the
global grab for Iraq’s resources.
The war has not made us more secure. The US policy of torture,
extraordinary rendition, indefinite detention, violent and deadly raids
on civilian homes, gunning down innocent civilians in the streets and
absence of habeas corpus has fueled the fires of hatred and extremism
toward Americans. The very presence of our troops in Iraq and other
Muslim nations has become a recruiting tool.
Given the above, we, the undersigned individuals and organizations,
mark the occasion of this partial troop withdrawal by calling on the
Administration and Congress to take the following actions:
* Withdrawal of all U.S. troops and military contractors from Iraq
and the closing of all U.S. bases;
* Reparations to help the Iraqis repair their basic infrastructure
and increased funds for the millions of internally and externally
displaced Iraqis;
* Full support for the U.S. troops who suffer from the internal and
external wounds of war;
* Prosecution of those officials responsible for dragging our
country into this disaster;
* Transfer of funds from war into resources to rebuild America, with
a focus on green jobs.
* The lessons of this disastrous intervention should also be an
impetus for Congress and the administration to end the war in
Afghanistan. It’s time to focus on creating real security here at home
and rebuilding America.
* Veterans For Peace
* Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace & Justice
* CODEPINK: Women for Peace
* Community Organizing Center
* Courage to Resist
* Fellowship of Reconciliation
* Global Exchange
* Institute for Policy Studies' New Internationalism Project
* Iraq Veterans Against the War
* Jeannette Rankin Peace Center
* Just Foreign Policy
* Mid-Missouri Peaceworks
* Military Families Speak Out
* Pax Christi - USA
* Under the Hood
* US Labor Against the War
* Voices for Creative Nonviolence
* Voters for Peace
* War Is a Crime
This was a live presentation in St. Louis, MO featuring the following
panelists.
Justine Sharrock: Justine is author of "Tortured: When Good
Soldiers Do Bad Things," will be live streamed from San Francisco, CA
Andy Duffy:
Andrew Duffy enlisted as a medic in the Iowa National Guard
two days
after he turned 17. He testifies to incidents in which Iraqi detainees
in Abu Graib Prison
desperately in need of medical treatment were denied it.
Woody Powell: Served in the USAF,
1950-54, in Korea
1952-53. Air Police, K-9 Corps. Air Base Defense. Was Executive
Director of Veterans For Peace from 2001 to 2005.
Moderated by John Chappell: Dr. Chappell is an
Associate Professor of History at Webster University in St. Louis,
Missouri. He is
author of the book, Before the Bomb: How America Approached the
End of the Pacific War.
In May 2010, he was panelist in the workshop, “The Atomic Bombings
and Indiscriminate Attacks on Civilians,” at the International
Conference for a Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just, and Sustainable World
held at Riverside Church in New York City.
august 3, 2010
VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES SAY PENTAGON STATEMENTS ON WIKILEAKS
AIM TO CLOUD REAL ISSUES
Our organizations represent veterans and military families. We have
personally carried the burden of the war in Afghanistan, along with wars
past. We are glad that the truth about the war is getting out to the
public with the recent 92,000 documents on Wikileaks. Hopefully, this
will inspire a massive outcry against this war that is wreaking so much
destruction to our exhausted and demoralized troops and their families
while draining our national coffers.
Obama administration officials are trying to spin events in their
favor. Their words must be carefully examined. On the one hand, in an
effort to downplay the significance of the release, we are told the
documents contain no new information.
On the other hand, some high ranking members of the U.S. military are
trying to: 1) intimidate anyone else from doing the same thing and 2)
turn public opinion against whoever leaked the current documents.
Towards those goals, we are told that grievous harm will surely come to
many Afghans and U.S. military personnel - if not now then certainly
later.
A more damning statement could hardly be imagined than this one from
Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "The truth is
they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier
or that of an Afghan family."
While we certainly do not wish to see one additional person put at risk
in this tragic, wrongheaded war, we must state the following as clearly
as we can.
As veterans and families with members in the military, we consider
statements like Admiral Mullen's to be nothing more than calculated
attempts to turn public attention away from the real problem - the
ongoing occupation of Afghanistan that has already caused the deaths and
injuries of many thousands of innocent people all the while millions of
Americans are jobless and face foreclosure or eviction.
This suffering in Afghanistan and this bleeding at home will continue as
long as our troops remain in that country. Congress must stop funding
this war. We must bring our troops home now, take care of them properly
when they return and pay to rebuild the damage we have caused to
Afghanistan.
# # #
Founded in 1985, Veterans For Peace is a national organization of men
and women veterans of all eras and duty stations spanning the Spanish
Civil War (1936-39), World War II, the Korean, Vietnam, Gulf and current
Iraq wars as well as other conflicts cold or hot. It has chapters in
nearly every state in the union and is headquartered in St. Louis, MO.
Our collective experience tells us wars are easy to start and hard to
stop and that those hurt are often the innocent. Thus, other means of
problem solving are necessary. Veterans For Peace: Exposing the true
costs of war and militarism since 1985.
Military Families Speak Out is an organization of people opposed to the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have relatives or loved ones who are
currently in the military or who have served in the military since the
fall of 2002.
Iraq Veterans Against the War is a national organization comprised of
active duty, guard, and reserve troops and veterans who have served
since 9/11. We call for immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces
from Iraq and Afghanistan, reparations to the people of those countries,
and full benefits for returning service members.
july 27, 2010
WIKILEAKS REVELATIONS WILL SPARK MASSIVE RESISTANCE TO AFGHANISTAN
WAR
by Veterans For Peace President, Mike Ferner
Today the war in Afghanistan begins to crumble under the weight of
government lies at home and criminal behavior on the battlefield.
Since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan nine years ago, Veterans
For Peace has been waiting for the day when internal documents would
reveal what we have known all along -- this war is illegal, immoral and
we must add, it is bankrupting our nation at a time when millions of
Americans have been thrown out of work and thrown out of their homes.
Neither Wikileaks nor the soldier or soldiers who divulged the documents
should be prosecuted for revealing this information. We should give
them a medal.
Now that the rotten truth of the war has been dug out of government
vaults and brought to light - the murder of civilians, the inexcusable
deaths and injuries of our troops, the knife to the heart of every
soldier's family member, the fact that "winning" in Afghanistan is
meaningless, the outrage of our jobless and homeless as trillions are
spent on war and bank bailouts - the most important question is, "what
will we do about it?"
We can be sidetracked by watching the 24-hour news cycle regurgitate
Obama administration denials and "expert" opinions. Or every single one
of us can look in the mirror tomorrow morning and see the person
responsible for bringing this war to an end. It really is as simple as
that. We know this war is wrong. Now we have official proof. When
will we do something?
If we have complained, we must write a letter. If we've written a
letter, we must get into the streets. If we've marched in the streets
we must sit down in them. If we've been to our representatives'
district offices, we must return and not leave until they stop funding
the war. If we've talked to our co-workers we must call in sick, slow
down production, urge our union to call a strike.
Government can only function with the consent of the governed. We must
withdraw our consent at every opportunity until this war is ended, the
troops are brought home and we start to rebuild our nation. That is our
responsibility and our mission.
As of today, no American can say, "I didn't know what was happening."
Now each and every citizen knows. Now we must act like citizens and
stop this war.
VETERANS OF THE KOREAN WAR CALL FOR A REAL PEACE TREATY
As we observe the 60th anniversary of the Korean War of 1950-1953
today,
it is time to end this tragic war, not re-ignite it. We urge all
concerned parties in the Korean War--both Koreas, the United States, and
China--to begin negotiations for a peace treaty and an official end to
the war.
VETERANS’ BANNER TAGS ABANDONED DETROIT BUILDING: "HOW’S THE WAR
ECONOMY WORKING FOR YOU"
On June 26, at 2pm, a group of U.S. military veterans hung a large banner on the abandoned Eddystone Hotel, on Sproat St., between Cass and Park, to protest and reveal the effect of war spending on American cities.
Members of Veterans For Peace (VFP), attending the U.S. Social Forum, a gathering of over 8,000 activists from across the U.S., created and erected the 10 x 15-foot sign that reads, “HOW IS THE WAR ECONOMY WORKING FOR YOU?” in this city with an unemployment rate of 15 percent and 10,000 abandoned homes on the mayor’s demolition list.
Taxpayers in Detroit have sent a total of nearly two billion dollars to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The city’s 2011 general fund budget of 1.3 billion dollars contains an estimated deficit of 300 million dollars, even after years of cutbacks in services once assumed to be part of urban life. The budget for Detroit schools has a deficit in the same range.
“Detroit, like so many of our cities, is most certainly in distress,” said Mike Ferner, National President of VFP. This crisis is no different than a five-alarm fire and we should respond the same way. Instead, we watch America’s cities literally crumble while we pour thousands of lives and trillions of dollars into wars abroad.”
John Amidon, President of VFP Chapter 10, added, “It’s absolutely criminal that the people who built the U.S. auto industry have to watch their city collapse around them while they send $2,000,000,000 to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is indeed the purest form of madness and it’s coming to a city near you.”
VFP, with over 100 chapters, is beginning a campaign to work with local government officials to place “war counters” on city halls stating the amount of money each community has sent to the wars.
Voices from war-torn lands join their call for peace
Two Iraq War vets and an Iraqi refugee began "The People’s Journey" on
June 2, 2010 from San Francisco. They are speaking to groups about
their experiences each day as they travel across the US and will be
joined by three women from Palestine two weeks later in Washington DC.
The group of six then travel to all speak in New York City, then in
Detroit at the US Social Forum, reaching the Pacific Northwest by the
fourth of July. Their messages is positive about the possibility of
peace, and does not point a finger at a set of “wrong-doers.”
Josh Stieber and Conor Curran (Iraq War veterans and VFP Members), and
Salam Talib (Iraqi refugee friend) have joined forces to spread a
message of peace. For them "The People’s Journey," forms a continuation
of a trek Stieber completed last year which he called the "Contagious
Love Experiment." Stieber and Curran, who joined Josh in the middle of
that first cross-country trip, met Talib during their final stop, in the
San Francisco Bay area where they became friends.
"The People’s Journey" was conceived by an inspiring group of youth from
Afghanistan as a result of their conversations with Josh and other
young people in Afghanistan, the US, Israel/Palestine and Iraq. It
became very clear that when people truly listen to one another that they
want to hear more and soon get to know each other. This direct
communication – hearing each others voices, their stories of life during
war, and everyone’s yearning for peace – led to a level of caring, or
love, that will no longer allow for harm. "The People’s Journey" to a
Peace Beyond Dismissal is posted here and is available to all who attend
the tour presentations.
VFP Ch 87's
Action Against Video War Games at the Sacramento Library
Alerted by local veteran Susan W. that the Sacramento Library was
planning a video war game tournament, the Sacramento chapter of Veterans
For Peace researched the proposed video game, Modern Warfare 2, found
it to be one of the worst video war games out there, and then got an
appointment with the library director. While hoping for a good outcome
from our meeting with the Librarian, we also made plans for a
demonstration outside the library at the time of the tournament -
regardless of the outcome of the meeting.
The Library's flyer for the tournament did require gamers to be over
17, but it encouraged gamers to "participate in pure domination," and
"go head to head with Library Staff," in a "Hardcore Team Deathmatch."
It was our feeling that a public library was not the place to
encourage war gaming.
Our goal was to find out why they were doing this, was their any
connection to the military itself, and did they realize just what this
game consisted of?
The meeting with the library director was cordial and informative.
She assured s there was no actual military involvement. The idea had
come from junior staffers as a way of getting young people into the
library. A goal we could appreciate even if we faulted the method. The
library director was unfamiliar with the game and shared our concerns
about it, but was unable or unwilling to cancel the tournament. We
informed her that we were going ahead with our protest demonstration.
She understood and did not try to deter us.
During all this time leading up to the video war game tournament we
were alerting anti-war activists and VFP friends about this terrible use
of a public library. Many said they had voiced their opposition
directly to the library; some calls came from far away.
Our media release showed up on a number of alternative news sites,
and on the day of the tournament we had about eight protestors holding
signs and passing out protest flyers to library patrons and passers-by.
The library director magnanimously let me (as VFP Chapter President)
talk to the gamers for a few minutes after the tournament was over. I
took the opportunity to urge the players not to join the military at
this time, and to point out the terrible toll - both physical and mental
- that these illegal occupations were causing our soldiers and the
civilians in those countries. The response was polite, although one
player who was a vet was very supportive of my words.
Although the library has not promised to never have war games again
they are looking for non-military competitive games, and it is my belief
they will be very reluctant to anything like Modern Warfare 2 again. We
will be watching.
* Update - It appears that VFP Chapter 87's comments were taken to
heart. The June library game schedule features Skate 2, Rock Band and
Street Fighter IV.
JUNE 9, 2010
RAY MCGOVERN ASKS DAVID OBEY TO LISTEN TO DAVID OBEY
Memorandum For: Congressman David Obey
From: A Former Admirer
Subject: Ducking the Challenge
“We can sit, frozen in our own indifference, as President Roosevelt once said…” That’s what you said yesterday in connection with saving teachers’ jobs. Sadly, it also applies—in spades—to saving lives in an unnecessary war.
It is amazing how you’ve changed, Dave, in the 25 years since you told then-Secretary George Shultz from your subcommittee chairman seat, “I did not take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States until I got tired.” (As you’ll recall, Shultz had made the mistake of saying, in effect, screw the law; the American people are tired of hearing about Iran-Contra.)
Now we are supposed to feel sorry for you because you say you are too “bone tired” to do your duty to defend the Constitution as it continues to be undermined by an illegal and futile war in Afghanistan in which over 1,000 American soldiers have already died.
As you may know, Binghamton has become the first City in the nation to
raise this discussion to a new level. Unfortunately, a few critics are
using the usual tactics to stifle dialogue: calling those who question
our nation's addition to militarism "cowards" and "unAmerican" and
"enemies of Veterans."
They even started a petition online, and the local media is referencing
that as some "objective barometer" of "public opinion."
So let's not remain the silent majority.
Take a moment to sign the petition in support of the Broome County Cost
of War Awareness Project and Mayor Ryan's courageous actions.