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| "Not war weary but war wise" Veterans For Peace |
Excerpting, editing by Carolyn Bennett
“The true WMD (weapons of mass destruction) in the case of
the Iraq War was U.S. propaganda,” Veterans for Peace National Board writes
this week.
“The world cannot afford another unnecessary war of choice
at the hands of the U.S. government—whether approved by Congress or not.
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| Veterans For Peace |
“We reject the idea that the United States or the West
should be the standard-bearer of morality in the world.
“The truer motivations for wars such as these—profit, access
and control of resources such as oil, and the extension of U.S. power —are not
more important than the sanctity of human life.”
Background note from its
official website: Veterans for Peace “is a global organization of
Military Veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of
peace by using our experiences and lifting our voices.” Veterans for Peace informs
the public of “the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars, with an
obligation to heal the wounds of wars.”
Its network “is comprised of more than 140 chapters
worldwide whose work includes: educating the public, advocating for a dismantling
of the war economy, providing services that assist veterans and victims of war;
and most significantly, working to end all wars.”
Having served country, it serves the cause of world peace, working
with others, its purposes are ─
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| Veterans For Peace |
To restrain our government from
intervening, overtly and covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations
To end the arms race and to reduce and
eventually eliminate nuclear weapons
To seek justice for veterans and
victims of war
To abolish war as an instrument of
national policy
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.
T
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he national board’s September 12, 2013, article “Veterans’
Group Responds to President Obama’s Call to War” continues by affirming that this
group “supports neither the use of chemical weapons—regardless of who deploys them—nor
military intervention in a raging civil war—by the U.S. or anyone else.
“
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Put simply,, the article says, “the civil war raging in
Syria will not end through more military force, but a robust and sustained
diplomatic effort. As veterans representing every war since WWII
… We are not war weary, but rather
war wise.
We know the cost of war from direct
personal experience.
We know that, whether a so-called ‘pinprick’
or robust but limited strike, military intervention will only exacerbate the
conflict, not solve it.
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| Anti-U.S. President Obama |
The conflict in Syria suffers a
problem of too much war and not enough diplomacy, the former of which the
United States should in no way contribute.
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| Libyans Anti-USA |
War is not, today ─ nor will it
ever be ─ the way to solve the conflict in Syria.
“Veterans for Peace continues to strongly oppose U.S.
military intervention, whether direct or indirect, in the civil war that is
currently raging in Syria.
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| Pakistanis Anti- USA |
“President Obama’s September 10th address to the nation
failed to provide a compelling argument for intervention and left many basic
questions unanswered and set justification for intervention squarely on logical
leaps and counterfactual fallacies.
“It is a logical fallacy to say, as the President did, that
U.S. military inaction will embolden other dictators into ‘acquiring poison
gas[es], and using them.’
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| Syrians' pro- President Assad |
“It is a leap to say that U.S. military inaction will create
conditions for ‘al Qaeda [to] only draw strength in a more chaotic’ Syria.
“We reject the President’s assertion that it is in the
national security interest of the United States to intervene in Syria, and we
reject the implication that military might is by default an
effective response to atrocities abroad.”
Sources and notes
“Veterans’ Group Responds to President Obama’s Call to War” by
Veterans for Peace National Board, September 12, 2013, http://www.veteransforpeace.org/pressroom/news/2013/09/12/veterans-group-responds-president-obamas-call-war
Veterans for Peace mission, http://www.veteransforpeace.org/who-we-are/our-mission/
Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy
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