Requested changes/additions to: ARTICLE II. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE with additions in boldface and deletions
lined through.
ART. II. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
We, as military veterans, do hereby affirm our greater responsibility to serve the cause of world peace. To this end we will work, with others both nationally and internationally:
1. To increase public awareness of the causes and costs of war
2. To restrain our governments from intervening, overtly and covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations
3. To resist racism and repression in our home communities
4. To oppose the militarization of law enforcement
5. To end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons
6. To seek justice for veterans and victims of war
7. To abolish war as an instrument of national policy.
8. To promote a sustainable and peaceful world
To achieve these goals, members of Veterans For Peace pledge to use non-violent means and to maintain an organization that is both democratic and open with the understanding that all members are trusted to act in the best interests of the group for the larger purpose of world peace. (Amended July 2026 August 2024)
Original Wording:
- 5. To end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons
- (Amended August 2024)
Proposed Language:
- 5. To end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons
- (Amended July 2026 August 2024)
Rationale for Requested Change:
The current language is milquetoast, demotivating, and plays directly into the strategy of U.S. empire. Nuclear weapons are a tool of U.S. imperial hegemony. Every president since their creation has used them as threats against other countries to get them to behave in line with U.S. empire. We have recently seen this exact strategy play out in the U.S. war on Iran. If we continue to give into the narrative that we need nuclear weapons for protection then we are either capitulating to the will of the U.S. and Western imperial ruling class, or we are just afraid of having done to us what our country has done to others since the creation of nuclear weapons. If we are fine with allowing nuclear weapons to exist past our lifetimes, giving more time for the U.S. to possibly commit nuclear genocide or mass extinction, then we should keep the original wording. If we actually want to work to eliminate nuclear weapons, then we should update our wording to reflect this intent. The effect of this change will be to prevent new membership from disengaging their activity within the organization due to ideological conflict.
Submitted by Bryson Ripley. Endorsed by VFP Chapter 97 – Kansas City.