The imperial wars rage on. U.S. drones rain missiles down on innocents in Pakistan; hundreds of children die daily in Afghanistan because of the war; contrary to what the President says, the occupation in Iraq continues. The devastation and misery caused by the U.S. invasion of Iraq has not even begun to be addressed. The United States, rather than bringing democracy and freedom to the Iraqi people, has destroyed their country—perhaps beyond repair.
On March 19, 2011, a broad coalition of U.S. military veterans consisting of members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, March Forward!, Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Veterans For Peace will gather at the White House in solidarity to demand peace. The veteran-led action will be supported by a large array of activist groups including ANSWER, Fellowship of Reconciliation, CODEPINK, Voters for Peace, United for Peace and Justice, World Can’t Wait, Peace Action, United National Antiwar Committee, and the War Resisters League.
Veterans will gather to support Bradley Manning, who should be venerated as a hero instead of being incarcerated under conditions amounting, literally (and legally) to torture. We call for an immediate end to the cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of PFC Bradley Manning during his military confinement.
Records and videos allegedly downloaded by Manning revealed horrendous war crimes committed by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, widespread torture by Iraqi authorities with full knowledge of the U.S. military, previously unknown estimates of the number of Iraqi civilians killed at U.S. military checkpoints, and the massive Iraqi civilian death toll caused by the U.S. invasion.
As veterans, we well understand and cherish the obligation of military personnel to refuse illegal orders and beyond that to prevent and expose war crimes. We know there is no excuse for following, either actively or passively, illegal orders.
We understand the need for justice. Our demand is clear, straightforward, and undeniable. Bring to justice those who committed war crimes, not those who report them—who heroically refuse to be a part of state-inspired mayhem and murder.
Veterans and others will gather en masse at the White House as we did on December 16, 2010, and again refuse to move. We have three clear demands for the President. End these wars and occupations. Expose the Lies. Free Bradley Manning.
“The speeches were over. There was a mournful harmonica rendition of taps. The 500 protesters fell silent. One hundred and thirty-one men and women, many of them military veterans wearing old fatigues, formed a single, silent line. Under a heavy snowfall and to the slow beat of a drum, they walked to the White House fence. They stood there until they were arrested.”—Chris Hedges
“We have become a killer nation and our economy is addicted to endless war spending. The Congress and the White House have been taken over by the corporate oligarchy and they have drowned democracy.”—Bruce Gagnon
America’s corporate rulers understand that their power depends upon a subdued, sedated and manipulated public—a public fed lies and fantasies that can, when needed, be manipulated by fear or coercion. But as the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt show us, the people can triumph over entrenched power, lies, fear, and coercion.
Forty-four years ago at Riverside Church in New York City Martin Luther King said, “Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism.”
On March 19—the anniversary of the brutal invasion of Iraq, where over a million Iraqis and almost 5,000 U.S. soldiers died with thousands more grievously injured—as the occupation of Iraq and the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan continue unabated, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, March Forward! and Veterans For Peace will bring the largest ever veteran-led nonviolent public civil resistance to the White House.
Our resistance will grow in numbers and strength; and like a hungry lion, our resistance will not abate, will not cease, until our appetite for peace is sated.
Download a two-sided flyer with this statement: Color or Black & White
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March 19 means a lot of things for a lot of people, but for myself and my activist and veteran friends, this is a day of action.March 19 is a day where we say NO to another year of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the destruction and killing of more innocent people in those nations.
I will be coming to DC in an act of solidarity and civil disobedience to stand, and I will not be moved until our message is heard. The truth is out there. We can no longer hide behind the lies and fear of WMDs, widespread terrorism, which is rooted in our occupations, and the falsehood that Islam is a violent faith set out to destroy the Western world.
I will be coming to DC to stand with my brothers and sisters and to let our voices be heard for all of the innocent lives we have destroyed and for those who cannot or are too afraid to speak out because of the tremendous pressure put on those who expose the lies.
On the 19th, we will be in DC, President Obama. No longer can we sit by and let our rights and the rights of others be violated. As a Purple Heart veteran of the U.S. occupation in Iraq, I am angry and disgusted by the way we were used, and others continue to be used for a lie.
I am hurt that I fought to find justification for the things I had seen and done while in Iraq once I returned, only to find out that my government lied to me and my closest friends for pure economic gain and control of a black liquid.
I will stand and shout on the 19th until I am blue in the face. When I am taken away, know that I will be back. We will ALL be back. We are your constant reminder of the lies that you continue to let play out. Silence is betrayal and we will be heard.—Zach Choate, Iraq Veterans Against the War
Resist politicians that follow morally bankrupt profiteers.
Resist murder, rendition and torture.
Resist immoral and illegal wars.
Resist those that profit from others suffering.
Resist global militarization.
Resist injustice.
RESISTS! RESIST! RESIST!
—Mike Tork, Veterans For Peace
Elaine Brower and her son
Every year for the last seven years I have marched in Washington, D.C., to protest the illegal and immoral invasion of a sovereign country based on lies. Every year for the last seven years speakers at our antiwar rallies announced how fed up we are with the war continuing, and we will not return next year to do the same thing. On March 19 we will return to loudly and vehemently once again demand that all troops be withdrawn from Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, and allow the Iraqi people to find peace and justice in their own country that we have torn to bits. Except this year, the resistance grows stronger. Yes, we will rally and march, but we will take to the streets in front of the White House and remain bound to the fence until our demands are met! I will chain myself to the gate of the ruler of this empire demanding that he stop the killing that he supports, and allow peoples of all nations peace in my lifetime. My son was in Iraq and Afghanistan, as he was deployed on three combat tours with the U.S. Marines. Nine years of infantry fighting illegal wars which scarred me and my family for life and has left an indelible black mark on his mind, body and soul. He is not the child I raised, nor will he ever be. How much longer will we allow this government to destroy the lives of our children, the children of other nations, and the planet itself? Many of us have vowed an oath of resistance to this empire which has taken root in the core of our being. We will not stop until ALL troops are home, and the bloodshed ceases.—Elaine Brower, World Can’t Wait
“The longer my government uses military force to exert its will on other nations, the more steadfast I become in my resistance to it. The more children who are killed, the more heartsick I become. Every day that my government continues to kill civilians, occupy countries, destroy property and create refugees, I will continue to resist.”—Leah Bolger, Vice President, Veterans For Peace
Yet again I’ll join VFP and others in D.C. in a united act of civil resistance. We don’t DISOBEY laws; we RESIST unlawful policies. While some action in Libya is discussed, we are under attack in Madison, Lansing, Columbus and Indianapolis. While the news focuses on the Mideast, here in the Midwest we must RESIST! If they succeed with what they’re doing here, we won’t be able to end wars/occupations in other countries. UNION! SOLIDARITY!!
For accountability, justice and peace, I will continue to join other patriots in our support of the Constitution against all enemies, foreign AND domestic.—Lobo, member, Veterans For Peace, Chicago
Margaret Flowers being handcuffed at the White House fence Dec. 16, 2010.
I just returned from Madison, Wisconsin. The assault on the working class there is about much more than taking away workers’ rights to represent themselves and to demand fair compensation for their labor. It is a full assault on the lives of working families and on all but the richest people in Wisconsin. Jobs will be cut. Pensions will be cut. Health care and education will be cut. The state will be sold off in piecemeal fashion to the highest bidders as families will struggle to feed and house themselves. More and more will be given to the rich as the rest will face austerity measures.
It is all based on lies. The state has a solid pension fund and the deficit was largely created through recent tax breaks for the wealthy.
What is happening in Wisconsin and across the nation is the result of decades of planning by those who represent concentrated corporate power and the military-industrial complex. It is the final grab while there is anything left to grab. We face more difficult days ahead.
I also witnessed in Madison a tremendous awareness by the people there. They see the attack and are responding. Thousands gathered on short notice to march in an evening “No Concession Funeral Procession” to the state capitol. I met with doctors and medical students who have been participating in solidarity actions with the workers and organizing to save public health programs.
America is awakening. This is the time to close down our military presence around the world and end the killing of innocent families abroad. It is time to bring our people and dollars home. It is time to end the wars on the poor and working families here.
It will take a massive uprising of people to manifest our demand to end all wars abroad and at home. I look to the veterans to lead this uprising.
A woman in Madison who has cancer and is facing the loss of access to medical treatment put it so clearly: “It doesn’t matter if you are died by a bullet or died by a policy, it is still murder.” We cannot allow these murders to continue.
Join me and others in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, March 19. Let us stand together to say no to wars and yes to the great community that we can be. Tens of thousands have gathered in Madison each Saturday. Let’s make the same happen in D.C.!
—Margaret Flowers, Physicians for a National Health Program 
You’re damned right I’ll be in Washington, D.C., again on March 19 to protest our government’s heinous crimes in the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Just yesterday I learned of a friend’s son who lost his legs from an IED in Afghanistan. Not one more dollar, Not one more life, Not one more limb, Afghani, Iraqi or American. Bring our troops home NOW!—Mike Hearington,Veterans For Peace National Board
I join in civil resistance against the war because when you know the truth about what the U.S. military does you must to stand up and do all you can to stop it. The destruction of people, cultures, and countries in order to broaden and deepen the U.S. empire, to provide U.S. trannational corporations with cheap resources and cheap labor and to place military bases in key outposts does no good for anyone except the military industrial complex. It weakens the U.S. economy, undermines national security, and destroys democracy. It creates hostilities around the world and prevents real problems of disease, poverty, and destruction of the environment from being solved. For all of these reasons I will join in the vet-led civil resistance on March 19 and join in the March on Quantico to support Pfc Bradley Manning.—Kevin Zeese, Voters for Peace
I am coming to Washington, D.C., once again to be arrested in an act of civil resistance because our government is out of control and completely out of touch with the Constitution that I took an oath to defend as a volunteer infantryman. I will be arrested for the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and the people there that our government has killed, NONE of whom had anything to do with the events of 9/11.
I am coming to Washington, D.C., once again to be arrested in an act of civil resistance, to stand with every U.S. soldier that ever died for the principles of our Constitution, knowing in my heart that they too would be ashamed at what this nation has now become. Just the thought that the United States would launch preventive warfare, that is, to attack another nation because they “might” attack us in the future, sickens me, and is truly the largest of all war crimes, according to the Nuremberg Principles, just as the thought that the Commander in Chief of our nation would approve kidnapping, torture, spying on our own citizens, and murder, in the name of our Constitution, also sickens me.
I am coming to Washington, D.C., once again to be arrested in an act of civil resistance, because the so-called “free press” has failed us, and that failure is the true reason we are now occupying countries in the Middle East and also the reason why the last administration was able to invade two completely innocent nations and commit overt war crimes, mostly for their war-profiteering partners in those war crimes.
I am coming to Washington, D.C., once again to be arrested in an act of civil resistance, because the nation of my sons is now hated worldwide because of the actions of our government, and I know in my heart that if our citizens don’t stop this small handful of out-of-control politicians and generals, the rest of the world will ally and rise against us, just as they did in World War II against Hitler and Germany, and my sons will never be able to enjoy their short time on this beautiful planet, all because of the actions of a few hateful, greedy and ignorant men and women.
And finally, I am coming to Washington, D.C., once again to be arrested in an act of civil resistance so I can look at myself in the mirror each morning, and be proud of who I see.—Ward Reilly, U.S. Army Infantry, 1971-1974, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
We call on Americans to begin the kind of resistance against this government that is happening in Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, and around the world. Ours is also a repressive government that only serves corporate interests, while people get poorer, lose their jobs, and are encouraged to fight in endless wars. We must end these wars and fund human needs. The lies of our government must be exposed, through more and more leaks like WikiLeaks. Bradley Manning must be freed, as he is a whistleblower and hero and not a criminal. The criminals are those who sit in the White House and Congress, those who rain death and destruction on the world. Join us on March 19.—Nate Goldshlag, Treasurer, Veterans For Peace
How many demos have I joined over the years-even just during these wars? Hundreds certainly, thousands over my activist life, and risked arrest several hundred times. And
yes to all you naysayers, I ALSO do teach-ins, presentations, articles, vigils, exhibits, lobbying, letter-writing, radio and TV interviews, etc, etc. But I will be in the streets and
at the White House yet again, as useless as it seems in the short term. Obama is NOT
going to hit his head and say, “Wow, I coulda stopped the wars today!” because we
are there. But public opinion is way on our side now, unlike earlier. 2/3 to 3/4 of those polled say end the wars, AND take money from the Pentagon to address the economic
crisis. And the nonviolent uprisings in the Arab world and Madison show how fragile the status quo is. We just gotta keep pushing.—Ellen Barfield, War Resisters League and Veterans for Peace begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
I am joining the March 19 civil resistance at the White House primarily because my heart is sickened by America’s addiction to war. These wars of aggression that we allow our government to wage kill countless civilians, woman, and children; maim and disfigure; and destroy entire infrastructures. These wars displace civilians, creating floods of refugees, many who are here in America, struggling without money, without jobs, emotionally crippled by the death, destruction, and torture they have experienced. These wars also are responsible for the death, disfigurement, and mental illness of countless young men and women who join the military for noble reasons and then return to a country that cannot even provide adequate medical services for them.
And what makes this so totally outrageous is that we simply cannot afford these wars. America is in financial chaos, bankrupt; every decent social program is being slashed. If these wars ended there would be money for everything we need: social programs, education, improvement of our infrastructure. In my estimation if we don’t soon stop wasting our tax dollars on war, we are not far away from living in third world conditions.—
Debbie Tolson, Veterans For Peace, Supporting Member, Delwin Anderson Memorial Chapter, Washington, D.C.
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