[Editor's Note: I heard a radio interview today over KPFK with a career military man who left the U.S military service by going AWOL. He wasn't going to war for Bush and his Illuminated pals, no matter what. He doesn't recommend going AWOL as the ideal method for getting out of the military, but he did mention that there are ways to get out if you're determined to get out. Veterans for Peace will give you some ideas if you know someone who wants to get out of the service. If I knew when I was younger what I know now, I would have never gone into the military. If I found myself in the military today, I would get out. Millions of innocent human beings are going to die because our country is under the control of satanic traitors who are driven by an insatiable lust for power, money, control, and domination over others. Don't sacrifice your life or the lives of your children for their contrived war and their Big Lies...Ken Adachi]   

by Dr. Robert M. Bowman, Lt. Col., USAF, Ret.
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/peaceispatriotic27feb03.shtml
Feb. 27, 2003

I'm here representing Veterans For Peace, an organization of thousands of combat veterans. All of us have put our life on the line for this country. And all of us are opposed to a war with Iraq.

Saddam Hussein is a bad guy. I don't know anyone who disagrees with that. He's a bad guy now. He was a bad guy in 1990 when April Glaspie of the State Department gave him the green light to invade Kuwait. He was a bad guy in the 1980s when Donald Rumsfeld sat down with him for a chat while he was gassing the Kurds. He was a bad guy in 1977 when Zbigniew Brzezinski met with him and proposed the invasion of Iran. And he was a bad guy in the 1960s when the CIA hired him to assassinate Iraqi leader Abdel Karim Qassim and then helped him take over Iraq.

He's always been a bad guy. But he was always our bad guy. Right up to 1990, official DOD documents praised Saddam for vastly improving the education, medical care, and standard of living of his people. His regime was called one of the most enlightened, progressive governments in the region and it was. But there was a problem.

The Berlin wall had come down and the Soviet Union had collapsed. The first Bush White House had to find another bad guy -- fast. And they did -- Saddam Hussein. They suckered him into attacking Kuwait, and the first Gulf War was on. This was the war the first Bush administration wanted, the war they planned for, the war they instigated, the war they salivated over, the war that Saddam's unconditional withdrawal wasn't going to deny them, the war that would show off our smart bombs better than a hundred trade shows, the war that would prove George wasn't a wimp, the war that would make billions for the future president George W. Bush, who had exclusive rights to offshore oil in the Gulf, the war that would kill the "loser" image from Vietnam once and for all.

Now the second President Bush wants his Gulf War too. Planning for it started long before 9/11, even before he became president. In September 1990, his advisers set "regime change" in Iraq as a primary objective of US foreign policy should Bush become president. They made it clear that the purpose of moving against Saddam is to set the stage for occupying the entire Middle East (and therefore controlling its oil, no matter who's in power, especially in Saudi Arabia).

The problems with starting a preemptive war against Iraq are several:

(1) It would be immoral and would probably be judged illegal by the World Court.

(2) It would be costly, in terms of American lives and in dollars.

(3) It would require us to keep troops in Iraq indefinitely.

(4) It would fracture NATO, split the United Nations, and come between us and our allies.

(5) It would incense the Arab world, probably causing the downfall of friendly governments who cooperate with us (like Saudi Arabia and Turkey).

(6) It would provide Osama bin Laden with thousands of new recruits ready to die in a Holy War against Americans.

(7) It would therefore cause an enormous increase in the terrorist threat to Americans at home and abroad. It might even cause World War III. It would destroy our national security and further endanger the American people.

As a combat veteran, I will not stand idly by and watch our security destroyed by a president who went AWOL rather than fight in Vietnam. I say, "NO" to war against Iraq. As one who has devoted his life to the security of this country, I will not stand by and watch an appointed president send our sons and daughters around the world to kill Arabs so the oil companies can sell the oil under their sand, making us the target of terrorists.

I say, "NO" to war against Iraq. I joined the Air Force to protect our borders and our people, not the financial interests of Folgers, Chiquita Banana, and Exxon. I say, "NO" to war against Iraq. As a pilot who flew 101 combat missions in Vietnam, I can tell you that the best thing our government can do for its combat veterans is to quit making more of them. I say "NO" to war against Iraq.

Peace is patriotic; a preemptive war is immoral, illegal, unconstitutional, and a war crime. I swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States against all enemies -- foreign and domestic. That includes a renegade president.

If this war happens, I will call for the impeachment of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and the whole oil Mafia. I say "NO" to war against Iraq. We are the people. We are sovereign. The whole world is with us. And we say, "NO!" "NO" to war! "NO" to preemptive war. "NO" to wars of aggression. "NO" to war against Iraq. "NO!" "NO!" "NO!" This war would be treason! PEACE is patriotic. God bless America! And God save us from George W. Bush!

by Dr. Robert M. Bowman, Lt. Col., USAF, Ret.
President, Institute for Space and Security Studies,
National Advisor, Veterans For Peace,
Presiding Archbishop, United Catholic Church.

http://www.veteransforpeace.org

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"The time for peace is now. At the dawn of a new millennium, there is no better time to review age old challenges with new thinking that peace is not only the absence of violence, but the presence of a higher evolution of human awareness with respect, trust and integrity toward humankind. Our founding fathers recognized that peace was one of the highest duties of the newly organized free and independent states. But too often, we have overlooked the long-term solution of peace for instant gratification of war. This continued downward spiral of violence must stop to ensure that future generations will live in peace and harmony." -- Dennis Kucinich

"It has never happened in history that a nation that has won a war has been held accountable for atrocities committed in preparing for and waging that war. We intend to make this one different. What took place was the use of technological material to destroy a defenseless country. From 125,000 to 300,000 people were killed... We recognize our role in history is to bring the transgressors to justice." --Ramsey Clark

"If you assume that there's no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, that there are opportunities to change things, there's a chance you may contribute to making a better world. That's your choice"     -- Noam Chomsky