Vietnam Veterans Against the War Anti-Imperialist
     http://www.oz.net/~vvawai
     vvawai@oz.net
     PO Box 21604
     Seattle, WA 98111-3604
     ph/fax: 206.374.2215
 
 

     Veterans Day 2000
     To hell with your national honor, we won't be used again!
     As veterans of the U.S. military, we know that there is no honor in the kinds of actions
     the U.S. has carried out against people around the world. How can we be proud of this
     country and its military when hundreds of people in Iraq, mostly infants and children, are
     dying daily because of the ongoing sanctions? How can we be proud of this country and
     its military when thousands of innocent civilians where killed by the bombings of civilian
     facilities during the Gulf war? How can we be proud of this country and its military for
     the deaths of thousands at the hands of SOA graduates?
 
 

     We can't and we won't!
 
 

     Our experiences have taught us that real honor and pride comes from standing with the
     people of the world against the injustices and aggression brought by countries like the
     U.S. On this veterans day, we urge all veterans to join with us in the call to end the
     sanctions against the people of Iraq. Join us in taking a stand that brings real honor and
     pride.
 
 

     Below is the statement and the list of veterans who have signed it. We are also looking
     for people willing to translate this into other languages to broaden its reach to veterans,
     and people, of other countries. Our contact information is at the bottom.
     -----------------
     A Call From Veterans
     --
     End the U.S./UN Sanctions -- Stop the U.S. War Against the People
     of
     Iraq!
     As veterans of U.S. military interventions, wars and occupations, we have something to
     say about war. What we have learned, we have learned the hard way, as instruments of
     war. Our shared experiences cause us to hold strong opinions about war - from
     avowed pacifism, to "only for self-defense," to nationalism, even to the need for
     revolutionary change. It also unites us under the common pledge of "Never Again!"
 
 

     Like most of the people in this country, we started out believing in what our government
     said and did. We believed that we were fighting for "freedom" and "democracy" and
     that the Saddam Husseins of the world were the only bad guys. But for us, these
     illusions were shattered by the murder of innocent people by our hands--people who
     happened to be in the way of the economic or political interests of the U.S.
 
 

     We found out first hand that it is not the Saddam Husseins of the world that pose the
     biggest threat to the people of the world, it is the U.S. as it "levels the playing field" and
     protects it own interests. With aggressions like the war against Vietnam, the support for
     the contras in Nicaragua, the invasions of Grenada and Panama, the U.S. has clearly
     demonstrated the lengths it will go to in maintaining control of what it calls "the American
     Century." (Since the end of World War 2, the U.S. has carried out over 200 overt
     military and 6000 covert interventions.) As a result of these U.S. actions millions around
     the world have died. Countries, families, and cultures have all but been
     obliterated. Currently, the U.S. imposed sanctions on the people of Iraq are killing 5000
     children a month.
 
 

     When asked on "60 Minutes" in May of 1996 about the deaths of half a million
     children, more than died in Hiroshima, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
     responded, "We think the price is worth it." Worth what? Mouthing weak
     condemnations about
     "weapons of mass destruction," the U.S. subverted the UN inspection teams to spy on
     President Hussein and plot their military attacks. The U.S. says that Saddam Hussein
     should be punished for crimes against his own people and the Kurds. But let's not forget
     that the major genocide against the Kurds in Iraq was committed during the period of
     friendly relations with the U.S. at the conclusion of the Iran-Iraq War. As soon as
     Hussein had plans of his own for the region, then to the U.S. he became evil
     incarnate and had to be stopped at all costs, even if those costs included the deaths of
     innocent children.
 
 

     Albright's response is acceptable to the people of this country because we have been
     lied to and deceived for so long we are blinded to the realities of the true consequences
     of the actions of our country. It also allows the government to threaten and attack
     people of conscience who are trying to oppose these actions and wake the citizens of
     this country
     up to reality. Voices in the Wilderness has been threatened with tens of thousands of
     dollars in fines and long prison sentences for taking medicine and toys to Iraq. Under
     this
     administration, compassion for dying children is apparently a criminal activity. We owe
     these courageous activists our support. As Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Edward
     Herman, and Edward Said recently stated, in their national statement, "The time has
     come for a call to action to people of conscience. We are past the point where silence is
     passive consent--when a crime reaches these proportions, silence is complicity."
 
 

     We will work with others to strategize, organize and take whatever actions necessary
     toward this end:
 
 

     We denounce sanctions against the people of Iraq as immoral and illegitimate.
 
 

     We call for an immediate end to the ongoing sanctions war against the people of
     Iraq.
 
 

     We vow our support for all those threatened or prosecuted for violating the sanctions
     and opposing intervention.
 
 

     We will oppose all US interventions, overt or covert, in the sovereign affairs of other
     nations.
 
 

     Veteran Signatories -- Current as of 11/02/00.
     Please let us know if any of the information is incorrect. Thank you.
     see http://www.oz.net/~vvawai/sanctions/vets-call.html