The Wild Reed: Veterans for Peace Strongly Condemns Any and All U.S. Aggression Towards Iran

Tuesday, January 07, 2020

Veterans for Peace Strongly Condemns Any and All U.S. Aggression Towards Iran

The following statement was released today by Veterans for Peace, a global organization of military veterans and allies whose collective efforts seek to “build a culture of peace by using our experiences and lifting our voices.” A primary aspect of Veterans for Peace's mission is to “inform the public of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars, with an obligation to heal the wounds of wars.”

The assassination of Qassem Soleimani, a senior Iranian military leader, is just the latest unilateral action by this administration that has brought us to the brink of war.

This latest act is part of a long list of hostile actions the U.S. has taken against Iran. Trump has filled his cabinet with warmongers like Mark Esper and Mike Pompeo; pulled out of the historic and successful Iran nuclear deal; embarked on a “maximum pressure” campaign that sent thousands more U.S. troops to the Middle East; and imposed crippling economic sanctions on Iran.

War with Iran would be yet another bloody disaster in the region and initiate another endless war. It is clear, based on extensive evidence, including the release of the Afghanistan Papers just last month, that the U.S. has had no strategy or accountability in conflict zones and only perpetuates chaos, confusion and violence.

Iran is a nation of 80 million innocent people, most of whom do not want war and oppose the actions of their own government. Similarly, Iraq is a nation of 38 million who deserve peace after the devastating U.S. war on Iraq. The people of both Iraq and Iran have long been working to achieve justice within their own governments. The actions by the U.S. government only work to destabilize these people’s movements.

Furthermore, we condemn continued escalation against Iranian targets in Iraq. The Iraq Parliament has voted for the removal of all U.S. troops from Iraq. If the U.S. does not honor the request by withdrawing military forces, we violate the very democratic sovereignty the U.S. has claimed to fight for since 2003 and further prove that the U.S. is there only to serve their colonial and economic interests.

The Trump administration's actions are a blatant violation of both international law and the constitutional mandate that only Congress is granted the power to declare war. Not to mention this administration continues to disregard every international standard and agreement by threatening to attack Iranian cultural sites and denying entry to members of the Iranian delegation to the United Nations.

As veterans who have been involved in illegal wars, we know too well the dangerous and disastrous consequences of wars that seek to benefit only defense contractors and corporations.

Veterans For Peace is sick of the lies, the massacres of innocent people, the waste of our national resources, and the deaths and injuries to our own soldiers. We want peace – not war – with the people of Iran and Iraq.