Veterans For Peace supports the members of Congress who produced the Don’t Give Up the Ship video to affirm and make clear the right and responsibility of all military servicemembers to refuse illegal orders. We are appalled at the president of the United States’ reaction, calling their statement of fact seditious and punishable by the death penalty. We call on all veterans to stand with these members of Congress and amplify their message so that Airmen, Marines, Seamen, and Army troops know that if they ever face the difficult challenge of refusing an illegal order, they are carrying out their oath to defend the Constitution by following the law.
It is difficult for servicemembers to recognize when they have received an illegal order. The following resource can help.
GI Rights Hotline: (877) 447-4487
Center on Conscience and War
Military Law Task Force: (910) 323-3912
Quaker House
Do Not Turn On Us
The need to remind servicemembers of their right and duty to refuse illegal orders arises from actions already taken by the Trump Administration. Supporting genocide is always morally wrong. Legal experts widely consider the airstrikes off the coast of Venezuela to be illegal under international and U.S. law, and cities across the nation are fearful and engaged in legal disputes with the administration over the deployment of the military to their communities.
Veterans For Peace calls on all service members to remember their duty to the Constitution, the nation, their communities, and their conscience. When you refuse orders to participate in illegal wars and war crimes, or unconstitutional deployments in the U.S., Veterans For Peace - along with the majority of Americans - will support you.