VETERANS MARCH FOR PEACE - MARCH 19, 2008
Veterans For Peace, upon the tragic 5th Anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, is calling for a massive Veterans March For Peace accompanied by direct non-violent civil resistance at various locations along the march route through downtown Washington, DC. Along with a March for Peace, members of VFP and IVAW will establish a mock field hospital to show the true costs of this war and occupation.
Veterans March For Peace will make public profound grievances with the United States government for the illegal and inhumane war against the Iraqi people and for the abysmal lack of care, services and support for Iraq War veterans and towards veterans from other wars.
Veterans March For Peace will be a dignified passage through downtown Washington, DC, stopping at points relevant to the cause and consequences of the war -- now about to enter its sixth year. Veterans took an oath to defend the Constitution and the country against all enemies foreign and domestic. We intend to fulfill that oath by calling for the impeachment and eventual arrest of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, as well as their collaborators in Congress. We will carry and attempt to issue people's warrants for their arrest on charges of Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes, and Lying to the American people.
Dave Cline, former Veterans For Peace National President and a decorated Vietnam combat veteran peace activist for four decades, said regarding impeachment:
"You bet it's our right and our duty! Today's tyrant named George may have little regard for the Constitution, but as members of the military we took an oath to uphold that document. George Bush has repeatedly violated not only the Constitution but federal law, by invading and occupying Iraq. In our system the remedy for such high crimes is clear: he must be impeached."
Veterans March For Peace staging area will be on the west side of 7th Street, NW on the Mall between Madison and Jefferson at 9:00 AM. BY 10:00 AM the Vets will move out in a column of deuces. We will carry the American flag held upside down -- a symbol of distress -- and our organizational flags. Stops will include:
1. National Museum of the American Indian -- brief gathering honoring, respecting and demonstrating solidarity with our Native American brethren, the original Americans, who fought valiantly to resist an earlier version of racist and expansionist oppression, much the same as that which we oppose and expose today.
2. The Peace Monument where we reaffirm our oath to defend the constitution and the country against all enemies foreign and domestic. Additional points of destination and optional sites for civil disobedience/resistance* on the March will be in this order:
3. Russell Senate Building
4. Supreme Court
5. Cannon House Office Building
6. R and R break (food/drink) back at Mall staging area
7. National Archives
8. Robert F. Kennedy Justice Department Building
9. J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building
10. Veterans Administration Headquarters Building
11. Lafayette Park and the White House.
* Veterans March For Peace will be law abiding and orderly. We expect that most of the participants will not choose to risk arrest, but for those willing to further express their discontent with the war and current status quo of our government, there will be numerous opportunities.
In the days before the march begins, and the morning of the 19th, small affinity groups will be formed to plan actions that may result in arrest at the various locations. There will be support groups providing food and water, as well as legal aide tracking all arrestees through the system and waiting for them upon release. Usual periods of being detained in DC range from 5 hours to 24. Both components of the march -- the visible presence, as Veterans wend their way through downtown Washington, DC, and the civil disobedience/resistance actions -- are equally important, but we need to mobilize our numbers. We urge veterans, their friends, supporters and families to take part in what will be a historic march of resistance to an increasingly oppressive system. Please join us.
Go
to 5 Years Too Many and/or Veterans For Peace
for more information and to sign
up: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/826/signUp.jsp?key=3051