VFP News Blog Category : Actions
Veterans For Peace Applauds Bradley Manning!March 01, 2013
Bradley Manning has shown us once again that he is a hero. On Thursday, February 28, he made a profound and historic statement to a military court and to the world. Reading from prepared notes for over an hour, Bradley detailed how he released classified military and government documents to Wikileaks, and he explained why he did so. I believed if the public, particularly the American public, could see this it could spark a debate on the military and our foreign policy in general as it applied to Iraq and Afghanistan. It might cause society to reconsider the need to engage in counter terrorism while ignoring the human situation of the people we engaged with every day.... I felt I accomplished something that would allow me to have a clear conscience.” What Manning released through Wikileaks was evidence of the regular killing of civilians by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the regular cover-up of these war crimes. The Iraq War Logs and the Afghan War Diaries also revealed that military and civilian leaders were lying to the U.S. people when they presented rosy assessments of the progress of those wars. Thanks so much for signing on to the Pentagon spending letter to Congress!February 18, 2013 Letter sent to Congress with signatures from 119 organizations Dear Members of Congress: The undersigned organizations represent millions of Americans with a tremendous stake in the outcome of the ongoing budget process. As Congress debates the debt ceiling, automatic spending cuts and spending in 2013 and going forward, our organizations urge you to ensure adequate funding to preserve the basic functions of government and real security for all our people. There are two paths toward accomplishing this goal and both must be followed. First, additional new revenues must be enacted. President Obama has identified at least $600 billion in new revenues if the wealthiest Americans are required to pay their fair share. We can raise more than $600 billion by closing tax loopholes for corporations, for the wealthiest 2 percent and for companies that outsource jobs overseas. Calling All VeteransFebruary 11, 2013 It's crunch time. Congress has until March 1st to hammer out a deal on $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts. You and I know that this could be our best opportunity yet to finally rein in Pentagon spending. But now we must make our voices heard. This is the broadest campaign in modern American history to call for an end to wasteful Pentagon spending —so join us. VFP is organizing a National Day of Action on Feb. 27 and we're going to tell Congress: stop wasting money on things we can't afford so that we can pay for the things we need — important programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and help for our veterans. And this is where you come in. We need to hear from our veterans who are dedicated to fixing our bloated Pentagon budget and want to send a message to Congress. Are you a U.S. veteran who is willing to speak out about our unsustainable Pentagon budget? Click here to share your story. Or if you know of a veteran who has a great story to tell, could you please forward this email along? We view reining in wasteful Pentagon spending as a mandate. We have a choice in our country: invest in the middle class and prosperity for all — including our returning veterans, many of whom are out of work — or continue down the road we're on — a road where Pentagon contractor CEOs drive the allocation of our tax dollars and dictate our national security agenda. Our Pentagon spending represents a bygone era. The Cold War is over. It's time to build prosperity at home. But we need your help. If you are a United States veteran, will you please share your story? Or if you know someone who has a great story to tell, could you please forward this email along? Together we can rein in uncontrollable Pentagon spending. Veterans For Peace are one of the 113 national organizations endorsing this action. How to Tell if John Brennan Is LyingFebruary 07, 2013 A message to VFP members from Medea Benjamin: John Brennan's confirmation hearing to become head of the CIA will take place on Thursday, February 7. There is suddenly a flurry of attention around a white paper that lays out the administration's legal justification for killing Americans with drones overseas, and some of the Senators are vowing to ask Brennan "tough questions." Give your Senators some ideas and ask them to oppose Brennan's confirmation. Whether or not your Senators are on the Intelligence Committee, they can publicly raise concerns with Brennan. I have a few suggestions, and you can add more of your own. Just click here to make sure your Senators can't claim they didn't know what needed to be asked. Please forward this message widely to like-minded friends. Background: Rally, March, and Die Against Drone Wars in Washington, D.C., on MondayJanuary 18, 2013 http://warisacrime.org/content/rally-march-and-die-against-drone-wars-washington-dc-monday What you can do to stop drone wars and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s opposition to militarism, racism, and extreme materialism. 1. Take 30 seconds to join 60,000 others in pushing for a ban on weaponized drones. 2. Take 30 seconds to demand that the millions being wasted on inaugural balls go to those who have lost their jobs, healthcare, and homes. 3. Be in Washington, D.C., on Saturday to say: No Blank Check for Israel! 4. Join a meeting of anti-drone activists in Washington, D.C., on Sunday at 4 p.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church located at 400 I (Eye) Street, SW Washington, DC (near Arena Stage); Metro: 1 block from Waterfront Metro (GREEN LINE). Contact 571-501-3729. 5. Attend a rally and march in Washington, D.C., on Monday morning. 6. Do a die-in Monday in Washington, D.C., organized by the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance (NCNR). At the U.S. Capitol sometime after noon. Those dying-in will be risking arrest, and as we lie on the ground we will cover our bodies with a red-painted sheet to represent a bloody shroud, and with a large picture of a drone victim. We invite you to participate in this action -- either risking arrest, or to be there in solidarity and witness. We call on all participating to commit to nonviolence. There are a number of people who would like to participate in both the Arc of Justice Rally and Parade, and then participate in the die-in. We have organized our action so that people will be able to do both. If you are planning or thinking about risking arrest, please contact mobuszewski@verizon.net – especially if you will be joining us at 11:45 am after the Arc of Justice Parade. Action Alert: Who's sharing the sacrifice?January 04, 2013 Dear Friend of Veterans For Peace, Click here to tell Congress we're willing to share some sacrifice with the Pentagon and wealthiest 2%. The media say the "fiscal cliff" has been avoided, but we'd be better off if Congress and the President had avoided this week's deal. While unemployment compensation, Social Security, and Medicare survived for the moment, the deal raised taxes more on working people than on the wealthy, gave giant gifts to corporations, and left war preparations spending unsustainably high. And the stage has been set for a bipartisan push to cut useful spending in the coming months. The time to raise our voices is now! We need to overwhelm Congress with our message: End the wars—bring our tax dollars home! Hands Off Social Security - Make Deep Cuts to the Military BudgetDecember 24, 2012 NO BUDGET DEAL ON THE BACKS OF VETERANS AND SENIORSAccording to numerous media reports, President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner have discussed cutting $130 Billion in Social Security benefits as part of the so-called “fiscal cliff” budget deal. This is unconscionable. Social Security, which is self-financed and not responsible for one nickel of the national deficit, should not be on the chopping block. Social Security is what American seniors survive on. As Dean Baker reports, “The median income of people over age 65 is less than $20,000 a year. Nearly 70 percent of the elderly rely on Social Security benefits for more than half of their income and nearly 40 percent rely on Social Security for more than 90 percent of their income. These benefits average less than $15,000 a year.” Most people don’t have savings to fall back on. Half of Americans have less than $10,000 in savings and nearly half of baby boomers are at risk of not having enough savings to pay for basic necessities and health care. Furthermore, veterans who are on Social Security disability would be among those who would be impacted most by the proposed cuts in Social Security Cost of Living Increases. Balancing the budget on the backs of veterans and seniors is not okay. Contact Your Congressperson Now!Immigants, Workers and Students Demand: Jobs Not WarsDecember 13, 2012
Please become a part of this movement to Rebuild our Country - Move our Tax Dollars from the Pentagon to Job Creation and Human Needs. We need a new set of priorities that place the needs of the people ahead of the profits of the privileged. Peace and Justice Groups, Military Families, Veterans, Unions, Retirees, and the Unemployed are all supporting our Jobs Not Wars Petition demanding that Congress and our President Give Us Work Not War. If you have yet signed, simply click here to Sign the Petition. If you have already signed, we Thank You! Please continue to help Spread the Word by forwarding this Petition to all your friends and associates. If you belong to an organization, no matter how big or small, who agrees with our Petition, ask them to Endorse the Campaign Here Action Alert: Prison for Protesting DronesNovember 29, 2012
The appearance of war being made easy by drones is resulting in more war. In Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and in places we don't know about, in places where we are not at war, we're sending these unmanned pilotless airplanes into foreign air space to hunt down people who've been accused of crimes only in the private court of the administration. They're hunted down and killed along with anybody who might be in the immediate vicinity. Drones are creating new wars rather than scaling down old ones. Drone pilots in Afghanistan have been targeted and killed. Drone pilots in the United States suffer PTSD at higher rates than real pilots Drone victims are 98% innocent civilians according to the recent Stanford/NYU study. The other 2% are targeted victims of murder without charge, trial, due process, or in many cases even knowing the target's name. Drones buzzing over houses traumatize children before they kill them. That those children are (in most cases) not American hardly diminishes the immorality. As I head to prison I urge you to add your name to the petition to ban drones and to ask others to do so. Back on April 15th, about 40 people, mostly from the Kansas City area, went to Whiteman Air Force Base and held a short rally outside the gates on a public right of way. We had a petition -- an indictment we called it -- that listed the laws that drones are violating and the damage they are doing. We took that to the gate and were stopped. Three of us asked directions to deliver the petition and were immediately put in handcuffs. About 40 military police in full riot gear appeared (video) and did a choreographed dance including high kicks and grunts and beating their shields, two steps forward and one step back, to get rid of the rest of the U.S. citizens, who were acting legally under the First Amendment. At my sentencing I told the judge: "Our expert witnesses testified that our behavior was consistent with the activities that the drafters of the First Amendment intended to be protected, not persecuted, by the government. The order and security of the base would not have been compromised had the security police allowed us to proceed to the headquarters to deliver our petition. No testimony to the contrary was offered this court. Sign the petition to ban militarized drones now, before it is delivered to government officials. Please forward this email widely to like-minded friends. --Brian Terrell for RootsAction.org Background: Organizations Supporting This Petition (partial and growing list): Call President Obama and Tell Him to Ban the Use of Weaponized Drones and Stop His "Kill List Program" Immediately!November 12, 2012 Please call President Obama at This video presents the October 25, 2012 Resistance Action at Hancock Field, Syracuse NY to end the use of weaponized drones and stop the killing of so many women, children and men. |
News From VFP Archives
|
"I felt I accomplished something that would allow me to have a clear conscience.”
Dear Friend of Veterans For Peace,
My name is Brian Terrell. I'm co-coordinator of a group called Voices for Creative Nonviolence. We support the 
202-456-1111 
