To All Military Personnel - Regular, Reserve, National Guard, Army,
Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard‘Why Iraq? Why now?’
NEW WEBSITE FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL
Bush and his associates change their tune each few days about Iraq. One day it’s because “Iraq protects Al Quaeda terrorists.” When that story flops, it’s because Saddam Hussein is a brutal dictator. Then it’s because the Iraqis have “weapons of mass destruction” and are ready to use them to kill people in the U.S.
Despite the “weapons of mass destruction,” they say taking Baghdad—a city of 5 million people—will be a snap. Even without allies. There will be almost no U.S. casualties. What happens next? They don’t say.
Let’s face it. Something is fishy here. Even after the Iraqis agreed to UN inspections, Bush continues to threaten war, that is, he plans to send U.S. troops in to fight. Can we learn the truth about his war from the government’s statements or from a political “debate” that, as one cartoonist put it, is over “Shall we make war on Iraq (on Tuesday or Thursday)?”
Military personnel of all ranks have been asking questions about this war. This is their right. Some have already spoken out against the war. This is also their right, and follows in the traditions of those troops during the Vietnam period who fought against an unjust war.
Here are some questions you should ask:
1. Why does Bush want war? To avenge his father? Did Iraq really try to kill Bush, Sr.? Or does this war have anything to do with oil reserves? Aren’t Bush’s cronies all oilmen? How many U.S. troops will have to stay in Iraq to protect these oil reserves, defend pipelines, etc?
2. Why are there U.S. military bases all over the world, including countries throughout Central Asia and throughout the Persian Gulf? Are these permanent bases that we will have to defend for decades? Do the people there want us or can we expect more attacks like with the USS Cole? Or the attack that killed a Marine in Kuwait? Or the Kuwaiti cop that shot two Gis.
3. Bush has named not only Iraq but also Iran and North Korea as part of the “axis of evil.” Does this mean that after the Pentagon deploys troops to Iraq, Bush will then deploy troops to Iran, and then to North Korea? Will the U.S. carry out these wars alone? Will they all be easy victories?
4. Not many U.S. troops were killed in the last war on Iraq in 1991. But after the war, tens of thousands of veterans suffered from what has been called “Gulf War Syndrome.” Is there any chance that this time too troops will be exposed to poisons or other substances that will leave them disabled? What guarantees does the DoD give that the troops and their dependents will be cared for should the troops become ill?
5. The war may cost over $200,000,000,000. What will this mean for social services in our communities? Will life get worse at home? What about the high unemployment?
All military personnel have the right to ask these questions and to have them answered truthfully. They have the right to discuss these questions among themselves.
Since it is unlikely that the government will give full and truthful answers to these questions, we invite you to discuss these questions with those in the peace movement.
In addition, military personnel who want to bring these questions back to their units will receive political and legal counseling from the anti-war movement, as will those courageous enough to resist the war.
Troops, even those on active duty, have the Constitutional right to join the national demonstration Oct. 26 in Washington, San Francisco and in other cities in Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere.
Contact: The International Action Center 39 West 14 Street, New York, N.Y. 10011 USA
Phone: 212-633-6646 fax: 212-633-2889 email: Gispeakout@action-mail.org, web: www.iacenter.org
The following are from statements from active-duty Marine Corps personnel regarding the war. The rank-and-file Marines wish to remain anonymous at this time.
Why the War on Iraq is Wrong
By Lance Corporal Anonymous (Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, CA)
The United States has become an octopus. Its tentacles far reaching and strangling any opposition to the "American way of life".
This war has no people's interests in mind. It has corporation's interests in mind. And it is sad to see my fellows so willing to shout "let's roll" on such a thin premise. To think that a man would be willing to die so that an oil company can tighten its grip on supply. To think that they will never see their wives because a mad man in Washington needs a war to prove he is "tough". To think children will never be able to see their fathers or mothers because they didn't realize that they were fighting an unjust war.
I don't understand why my brothers in arms can't see this; Why can't they see the inequalities in the feudal system we call the "military"? Why can't they see that they probably won't be the one who comes home to tell stories? Do they think that the carnage of wars in the past is somehow gone? Why don't they see that the guy on the other side is just like me?
Solidarity brothers! [end]
Statement on Injustice
By Corporal Anonymous (Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, CA)
I came into the military not because I had a need for money or a need to prove my "manliness", but because I thought that I was protecting my family and my land (which I love). But I soon found out that the military was not about protecting this country or the people. It was about proving one's "macho-ness", or (as a small part) making a living through being "tough" and mindlessly following orders.
If the military was for defense of the land (country) and people, it wouldn't need $300 billion a year for Stealth aircraft and aircraft carriers. Also, a trillion dollars a year corporate budget for military goods would not be needed.
I said before that I love this land. It is in reference to the people and the beautiful lakes, trees, and mountains that make up America as a country. It does not mean that I have an unfounded love for the crooked leaders and politicians who run our pseudo-Fascist government.
The war in Iraq is not to defend our country-- it cannot even be conceived as such. it is nothing but an excuse for one man to avenge the mistakes of his father; one of the biggest mistakes in known history. It can only be perceived by other countries as a fascist and imperialist war for the benefit of U.S. and other First World corporations. They don't even have anything to back-up our "reasoning" for going to Iraq.
Why should I feel the need to kill innocent people under a totalitarian regime who have been starving and without medicine for years (under U.S. sanctions), just so one man can feel better about himself and his dad?
If the U.S. is really a "democracy", should one man decide whether we should murder innocent people in a country that has done nothing to harm us at all? Should I be part of an organization that kills for the whims of one man?
I don't want to die for something I don't believe in or anyone-- if they knew what it was for-- would die for; Oil, intimidation, and petty family grudge. [end]
INVITATION
Military personnel are invited to send their comments to: Gispeakout@action-mail.org
PVN Video: Veterans United Against the War: On the eve of Veterans' Day, various organizations including Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Vets Against the War, Gulf War Vets for Common Sense, Black Vets for Social Justice, and the Abraham Lincoln Brigade came together in a meeting at Local 1199 in New York City. Included: urgent information about gulf war syndrome and depleted uranium
posted: November 21, 2002
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