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Revision as of 08:31, 15 December 2005 by Tedernst (talk | contribs) (Popups-assisted redirection bypass from Santa Monica to Santa Monica, California)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Veterans For Peace is an American organization founded in 1985. Made up of male and female veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and other conflicts, as well as peacetime veterans, the group works to promote alternatives to war. The stated objective of the group is as follows:
- "We draw on our personal experiences and perspectives gained as veterans to raise public awareness of the true costs and consequences of militarism and war - and to seek peaceful, effective alternatives."
An official non-governmental organization (NGO) represented at the United Nations, Veterans for Peace is structured around a national office in Saint Louis, Missouri and composed of members across the country organized in chapters or as at-large members.
Anti-war activities
Veterans For Peace, founded twenty years ago, had 600 to 700 members before Sept. 11, 2001. “We’ve seen a big growth since 9/11,” said executive director Michael T. McPhearson in 2003, who attributed the increase to concerns over the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. “We have about 4,000 members now. We had 157 join last month.”
The group hopes to end war by exposing the true costs in human and financial terms. Its main goal is to bring the troops home. Veterans for Peace has also called for the impeachment of President Bush.
“We believe this war is illegal,” says McPhearson, whose son has just been deployed to Iraq. “Our government is supposed to follow international law and the treaties that we have signed.”
“There is no doubt that the president has lied to us on several occasions,” he added. “That’s what it boils down to: accountability.”
“There is something wrong when I fought in a theater and my son is going to fight in it, too,” he said. “We didn’t solve any problems there. We really need to look more closely at why we go to war and what we do.” He supports immediate withdrawal of troops, but also believes the U.S. has a responsibility to help Iraq rebuild with materials, money, and expertise in areas that don’t take jobs from Iraqis.
Asked how he would respond to critics McPhearson replied, “There are Iraqis and foreign fighters there killing Iraqis right now, so what constitutes a civil war? Surely they would continue to fight each other, but with us out of the way, they can move toward a resolution that has nothing to do with us…Our country fought a bloody civil war in order to find a more perfect union. Why do we think we have the answers for everyone?”
“We don’t think there’s ever been as large and organized a voice of military families who opposed a war,” said Military Families Speak Out co-founder Charlie Richardson.
Iraq War
In 2004, Southern California chapters of Veterans For Peace began installing Arlington West, a weekly "temporary cemetery" in tribute to those killed in the war in Iraq, each Sunday in Santa Barbara and Santa Monica, California.
In August 2005, Veterans For Peace provided support to Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a U.S. Army soldier killed in Iraq who embarked on an extended anti-war vigil near the ranch of U.S. President George W. Bush in Crawford, Texas. In May 2004, one month after the death of her son, Casey, Sheehan had first learned of the organization after seeing coverage of the Arlington West display on television. On August 5, 2005 she spoke at the organization's 20th annual convention in Dallas, just a day before traveling to Crawford to begin her vigil. Members traveled from California to install an Arlington West display at "Camp Casey," the site of Sheehan's protest.
External links
- Veterans for Peace official site
- Anatomy of a peace movement: Military families increasingly raising voices against war
- http://www.veteransforpeace.org/A_pawn_in_their_042904.htm