[A-List] Fw: Peace.int-- Call to Conscience from US Veterans to Active Duty Troops and Reservists

["Christopher Black" <bar@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "ICPJ" <icpj@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <icpj@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 12:34 PM
Subject: Peace.int-- Call to Conscience from US Veterans to Active Duty
Troops and Reservists


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>From: Rycroft & Pringle <rycroft@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (by way of Janine
> Bandcroft)
>Subject: Peace.int-- Call to Conscience from US Veterans to Active Duty
> Troops and Reservists
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>ARE THERE US TROOPS IN YOUR NEIGHBOORHOOD?
>
>PLEASE PRINT, COPY AND PASS IT ON TO US SERVICEMEN
>
>
>CALL TO CONSCIENCE FROM US VETERANS TO ACTIVE DUTY TROOPS AND RESERVISTS
>
>----- Original Message -----
>Subj: Call to Conscience from Vets to Active Duty Troops and Reservists
>Date: 1/14/2003 10:49:12 PM Pacific Standard Time
>From:    JeffPaterson-bounce-964629672-12263811@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Jeff
>Paterson)
>
>Call to Conscience from Veterans to Active Duty Troops and Reservists
>
>For more information, or to add your name to the list below:
>http://www.calltoconscience.net/
>
>We are veterans of the United States armed forces. We stand with the
>majority of humanity, including millions in our own country, in opposition
>to the United Statesâ*T all out war on Iraq. We span many wars and eras,
have
>many political views and we all agree that this war is wrong. Many of us
>believed serving in the military was our duty, and our job was to defend
>this country. Our experiences in the military caused us to question much of
>what we were taught. Now we see our REAL duty is to encourage you as
members
>of the U.S. armed forces to find out what you are being sent to fight and
>die for and what the consequences of your actions will be for humanity. We
>call upon you, the active duty and reservists, to follow your conscience
and
>do the right thing.
>
>In the last Gulf War, as troops, we were ordered to murder from a safe
>distance. We destroyed much of Iraq from the air, killing hundreds of
>thousands, including civilians. We remember the road to Basraâ*"the Highway
of
>Deathâ*"where we were ordered to kill fleeing Iraqis. We bulldozed
trenches,
>burying people alive. The use of depleted uranium weapons left the
>battlefields radioactive. Massive use of pesticides, experimental drugs,
>burning chemical weapons depots and oil fires combined to create a toxic
>cocktail affecting both the Iraqi people and Gulf War veterans today. One
in
>four Gulf War veterans is disabled.
>
>During the Vietnam War we were ordered to destroy Vietnam from the air and
>on the ground. At My Lai we massacred over 500 women, children and old men.
>This was not an aberration, itâ*Ts how we fought the war. We used Agent
Orange
>on the enemy and then experienced first hand its effects. We know what Post
>Traumatic Stress Disorder looks, feels and tastes like because the ghosts
of
>over two million men, women and children still haunt our dreams. More of us
>took our own lives after returning home than died in battle.
>
>If you choose to participate in the invasion of Iraq you will be part of an
>occupying army. Do you know what it is like to look into the eyes of a
>people that hate you to your core? You should think about what your
>  â*omissionâ*? really is. You are being sent to invade and occupy a people
>who,
>like you and me, are only trying to live their lives and raise their kids.
>They pose no threat to the United States even though they have a brutal
>dictator as their leader. Who is the U.S. to tell the Iraqi people how to
>run their country when many in the U.S. donâ*Tt even believe their own
>President was legally elected?
>
>Saddam is being vilified for gassing his own people and trying to develop
>weapons of mass destruction. However, when Saddam committed his worst
crimes
>the U.S. was supporting him. This support included providing the means to
>produce chemical and biological weapons. Contrast this with the horrendous
>results of the U.S. led economic sanctions.  More than a million Iraqis,
>mainly children and infants, have died because of these sanctions. After
>having destroyed the entire infrastructure of their country including
>hospitals, electricity generators, and water treatment plants, the U.S.
>then, with the sanctions, stopped the import of goods, medicines, parts,
and
>chemicals necessary to restore even the most basic necessities of life.
>
>There is no honor in murder. This war is murder by another name. When, in
an
>unjust war, an errant bomb dropped kills a mother and her child it is not
>"collateral damage," it is murder. When, in an unjust war, a child dies of
>dysentery because a bomb damaged a sewage treatment plant, it is not
>"destroying enemy infrastructure," it is murder. When, in an unjust war, a
>father dies of a heart attack because a bomb disrupted the phone lines so
he
>could not call an ambulance, it is not "neutralizing command and control
>facilities," it is murder. When, in an unjust war, a thousand poor farmer
>conscripts die in a trench defending a town they have lived in their whole
>lives, it is not victory, it is murder.
>
>There will be veterans leading protests against this war on Iraq and your
>participation in it. During the Vietnam War thousands in Vietnam and in the
>U.S. refused to follow orders. Many resisted and rebelled. Many became
>conscientious objectors and others went to prison rather than bear arms
>against the so-called enemy. During the last Gulf War many GIs resisted in
>various ways and for many different reasons. Many of us came out of these
>wars and joined with the anti-war movement.
>
>If the people of the world are ever to be free, there must come a time when
>being a citizen of the world takes precedence over being the soldier of a
>nation. Now is that time. When orders come to ship out, your response will
>profoundly impact the lives of millions of people in the Middle East and
>here at home. Your response will help set the course of our future. You
will
>have choices all along the way. Your commanders want you to obey. We urge
>you to think. We urge you to make your choices based on your conscience. If
>you choose to resist, we will support you and stand with you because we
have
>come to understand that our REAL duty is to the people of the world and to
>our common future.
>
>Veteran signers as of January 13, 2003:
>
>Ed Armas, Army, 1962-1965
>Peter B. AShaw, Marine Corps, 1951-1954
>Tarik Aziz, Army, 1970-1975
>Niall Aslen, Royal Air Force, 1962-1986
>Aram Attarian II, Air Force, 1965-1966
>Collin Baber, Air Force, 1994-1998
>David E Baker, Army, 1988-1991
>Philip L. Bereano, USPHS, 1966-1970
>Anton Black, Navy, 1977-1984
>Dave Blalock, Army 1968-1971
>Michael Blankschen, Army, 1972-1973
>David Bledsoe, Air Force, 1987-1997
>Louis Block, Army, 1966-1972
>Blase Bonpane, Marine Corps Reserve, 1948-1950
>Fr. Bob Bossie, SCJ, Air Force, 1955-1959
>Don Broadwell, Marine Corps, 1960-1966
>Roger W Brown, Marine Corps, 1957-1960
>Greg Busby, Air Force, 1980-2000
>Rick Campos, Air Force, 1969-1971
>William J. Cavanaugh, Army, 1951-1953; Army Reserve, 1953-1982
>Fredy Champagne, Army, 1965-1966
>Elwood A. Chirrick, Navy, 1970-1972
>Debra J. Clark, Army, 1976-1984
>Rockney Compton, Army, 1967-1974
>James M. Craven, Army, 1963-1966
>Charlotte Critcher, Army, 1964-1971
>Carl Dix, Army, 1968-1972
>Barry Donnan, British Army, 1987-1993
>Pat Driscoll, Navy, 1972-1975
>Kenneth Dugan, Navy, 1984-1988
>Jake Elkins, Marine Corps, 1965-1969
>Marcus Eriksen, Marine Corps, 1985-1991
>T. Patrick Foley, Navy, 1997-2000
>Dr. Ray Foster, Army, 1972-1975
>Lou Fox, Army, 1965
>Dean Friend, Marine Corps, 1981-1985
>India Mahdi Gamboa, Air Force, 1985-1987
>Ernest Goitein, Army, 1943-1945
>Jay R Goodman, Army, 1969-1970
>Todd Greenwood, Marine Corps, 1993-2001
>James F. Harrington, Air Force, 1966-1967
>Rev. Richard K. Heacock, Jr., Navy, 1944-1946
>Glenn Helkenn, Army, 7 yrs
>Dud Hendrick, Air Force, 1963-1967
>Rodger Herbst, Army, 1969-1971
>Andres Hernandez, Navy Reserve, 1979-1985
>John Hockman, Army, 1963-1965
>Walter Hrozenchik, Navy, 1951-1955
>Eric Edward Johansson, Army, 1989-1992
>James Michael Kearney, Army, 1963-1965
>Keith Keller, Air Force, 1966-1972
>Ron Kovic, Marine Corps, 1964-1968
>Robert Krezewinski, Navy, 1973-1977
>Marty Kunz, Navy, 1970-1976
>Krystal Kyer, Navy, 1993-1997
>Neal Liden, Navy, 1965-1969
>Mark McCleary, Navy, 1996-2002
>Teresa Media, Navy, 1972-1977
>Jack Minassian, Army, 1943-1945
>Michael Moore, Army, 1975-1979
>Paul S. Moorhead, Navy, 1943-1946
>Catherine Morris, Marine Corps, 1981-85 & Army Nat Guard, 1989-96
>Paul Pat Morse, Air Force, 1965-1968
>Bryan Morrison, Air Force, 1994-1998
>Stan Nishimura, Army, 1964-1967
>Bruce McFarland, Navy, 1982-1986
>Rob Moitoza, Navy, 1965-1971
>Dale L. Morgan, Air Force, 1956-1960
>David Rees Morgan, British Royal Air Force, 1948-1950
>John J. Pagoda, Air Force, 1965-1968 and 1985-1998
>Todd A. Papasadero, Army, 1983-1989
>John Pappademos, Naval Reserves, 1943-1946
>Jeff Paterson, Marine Corps, 1986-1990
>Wilson M. Powell, Air Force, 1950-1954
>Erwin Rommel, Army, 22 yrs
>Randy Rowland, Army, 1967-1970
>Rodney A Rylander, Air Force, 1962-1967
>Lee Santa, Army, 1965-1968
>Nikko Schoch, Army, 1968-1970
>Betty R. Scott, Navy, 1943-1945
>Charles T. Smith, Army, 1969-1971
>John Steinbach, Coast Guard, 1965-1969
>Darnell S. Summers, Army, 1966-1970
>Thomas Swift, Army, 1953-1955
>Harold Taggart, Air Force, 1959-1964
>Toby Tahja-Syrett, Army, 1992-1996
>Tom Trigg, Army, 1967-1975
>Joe Urgo, Air Force, 1967-1968
>Gerald Waite, Army, 1967-1982
>William H. Warrick III MD, Army Security Agency, 1968-1971
>Joel Wendland, Army, 1991-1993
>David Wiggins MD, Army, Gulf War
>John P. Wirtz, Army, 1943-1946
>Mike Wong, Army, 1969-1975
>Howard Zinn, Air Force, 1943-1945
>
>Please reprint and forward to other veterans.
>
>
>
>
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
>
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