Below you will find recent Action from Veterans For Peace. An open letter to Congress and the American People on the ‘War Crimes Act’, also VFP policies as to the Arlington Memorials and Vigils important to Military Families.
There is also a report from an attendee of a recent “Crimes of the Oval Office” Public Discussion held at the University of California, Los Angeles, featuring former White House counsel John W. Dean and former Congresswoman and Judiciary Committee member Elizabeth Holtzman.
These have just recently come out and are posted at the VFP Group Board, a monitored site, and haven’t as yet been placed on the VFP Homesite , so I’m posting them as posted at board and sent out as well.
At the bottom you will find an Important Deadline for Military Families and Loved Ones who have someone In-Theater Iraq or Afganistan or had served there since this all started. If they had Purchased any Military Gear, that should have been given their Loved Ones by the Military and DoD, there is a Dealine for Reimbursement of cost and shipping. This comes from MFSO, Military Families Speak Out, and was posted at the Veterans For America Blogsite by Major Robert Hanafin
From David Cline, President, Veterans For Peace
To: GI Special
Sent: September 27, 2006 1:25 AM
Subject: VFP Letter to Congress about War Crimes Act
To All Members of the United States Congress,
cc: All members of the U.S. Armed Forces; the American people
In the past five years, since the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, the people of our nation have been told time and time again that the world has changed, we have a new enemy and we must change to fight that enemy. This argument has been presented over and over to justify deviations from and at times dismissal of our nation’s basic ideals.
Veterans For Peace and millions of other U.S. citizens believe the time has come to return to our nation’s core beliefs as called for by our Declaration of Independence and Constitution, the rule of law, justice and the recognition of all people’s unalienable human and civil rights.
Recent news reports indicate that the Bush administration is seeking legislation to eliminate key elements of the War Crimes Act. Veterans For Peace believes such an effort is an attempt by administration officials to protect themselves from prosecution, even as they prosecute enlisted men and women for actions committed under their command in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
It is the highest form of hypocrisy to claim to support our troops while allowing the policy makers and planners of a war of choice, that we believe is illegal, immoral and unjust, to change existing law to protect themselves from prosecution for committing war crimes after ordering the troops to war.
It is obvious that these officials are trying to change the law because they believe they have broken the law.
How convenient for them that they have the power to persuade you to protect them.How inconvenient for the soldier on the ground who must follow their orders.
Veterans For Peace vehemently insists that Congress:
(1) Reject any effort to weaken the 1996 War Crimes Act (USC §2441), and
(2) Based on USC §2441 and Article II of the Constitution, which makes treaties ratified by the U.S. Senate the supreme law of the land, initiate impeachment proceedings
against President Bush and Vice-President Cheney for the war crimes they have committed and for the treaties they have violated by the invasion and occupation of Iraq; including, but by no means limited to, waging a war of aggression, crimes against peace, and war crimes.Veterans For Peace reminds Congress that the Uniform Code of Military Justice already applies the Geneva Conventions to everyone in the U.S. military. The purpose of the War Crimes Act is to provide the same accountability to the military’s civilian leaders.
Gutting the War Crimes Act will exempt high government officials from the very war crimes charges they are now leveling against enlisted men and women and in some cases asking for the death penalty.
It is easy to claim adherence to high ideals in times of prosperity and relative comfort. The test is in time of challenge and adversity.
We face such times today. Will we live up to what we claim to be; land of the free and home of the brave? The American people as a whole must answer these questions but you are in elected positions to take a lead.
Hold the Bush administration accountable for its actions. Support our troops.
Do not create a double standard, one for the troops another for the administration.
We have no Kings in the United States. No one is above the law.
We have a President and he is a servant of the people. Even in times of war.
Urgently,
David Cline, President
Veterans For Peace
September 24, 2006
cc: All members of the U.S. Armed Forces; the American people
Veterans For Peace Answer Critics of Memorials and Vigils
For Immediate Release
Veterans For Peace
NEWS ADVISORY CONTACT: David Cline (201) 876-0430
September 27, 2006 Michael T. McPhearson (314) 303 – 8874
Veterans For Peace Answer Critics of Memorials and Vigils
Who: Veterans For Peace, a national organization of military veterans including men and women from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, the Iraq War, other conflicts and “peacetime.”
What: Address critics of Vigils and Memorials held by members and chapters of Veterans For Peace
Vigils and Arlington Memorials are important and effective initiatives by local Veterans For Peace chapters. These memorials are conducted to make the consequences of war real and to allow people to express their grief, respect and thoughts. As a result of the power of these memorials and stance against war, Veterans For Peace has come under attack from some quarters, mostly by people who support the war in Iraq.A number of Gold Star Families have accused Veterans For Peace of using the names of the Fallen to deliberately cause pain and suffering. The President of Veterans For Peace David Cline says, “When a few of the Fallen’s families began to contact us, our national board discussed it and set a policy including the family’s wishes. We have told our chapters that if Fallen family members objects to a name being used in one of our memorials or vigils, the name should be removed. Our purpose is not to cause grief to parents or spouses of dead soldiers.”
Veterans For Peace does not concede the right to use the names of the Fallen. Executive Director Michael McPhearson stated, “When a service member dies the whole nation mourns. Our organization conducts memorials and vigils to honor the dead and remind the living of the cost of war. Our belief that the Bush administration has sent our service members to fight an illegal war does not diminish our respect or honor for those who fight and have fallen. However, some Gold Star Family members have asked us to discontinue the use of their loved one’s name. Our policy reflects their input.”
Veterans For Peace is a national organization founded in 1985. It is structured around a national office in Saint Louis, MO and comprised of members across the country organized in chapters or as at-large members. The organization includes men and women veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq war other, conflicts and peacetime veterans. Our collective experience tells us wars are easy to start and hard to stop and that those hurt are often the innocent. Thus, other means of problem solving are necessary.
VFP Memorials and Vigil Policy
VFP POLICY FOR ARLINGTON AND OTHER MEMORIALS TO THE FALLEN
Arlington Memorials are important and effective initiatives by local Veterans For Peace chapters. These memorials are conducted to make the consequences of war real and to allow people to express their grief, respect and thoughts. As a result of the power of these memorials and our stance against war, Veterans For Peace has come under attack from some quarters, mostly people who support the war in Iraq.
However, VFP has also received a few complaints from Gold Star family members. These wishes should be taken into consideration when conducting the Arlington Memorials, thus the following policy has been adopted by the National Board of Directors. The Directors request that all VFP chapters and affiliated memorials follow these guidelines for the use of the names of the fallen and recognition of the deaths of Iraqis and other victims of war.POLICY: The names of the fallen are released by the Department of Defense and they are published weekly throughout the country as part of the public record. Several Veterans For Peace memorials and vigils list a number or all of the names of the fallen on name tags, or other means and post them on crosses, tombstones, boots or other items to represent those service members who have lost their lives in the occupation and war in Iraq.
Veterans For Peace conducts these events to remember and honor those who have given their lives in their country’s service, and to offer friends, relatives and those who served in the military with the deceased an opportunity to pay their respects.
If an immediate family member (mother, father or spouse) personally requests that we not post a person’s name publicly, VFP chapters and members should (1) honor these requests and the name of the person should be kept on file, so that visitors wishing to honor that person may do so in a manner of their own choosing and (2) get this request in writing and contact the national office so that the information is given to all memorials affiliated with Veterans For Peace.
The Arlington’s and other memorials are primarily in honor of fallen U.S. service members. However, in accordance with the mission of Veterans For Peace; to increase the public awareness of the cost of war and to seek justice for veterans and victims of war, it is equally important to remember the civilian lives lost. When possible, shoes, photographs or other appropriate images or symbols should accompany the memorials or vigils in remembrance of the Iraqi and other civilian deaths.
Adopted by the National Board of Directors September 22, 2006
NAMES: These are the names of the Fallen I have compiled that we have been requested by Gold Star Family members to no longer post. If you know of other names, please secure the request in writing and send to the National Office so that we may disseminate it the information.
SFC Robert Rooney – Army National Guard
SGT TJ Sutton – Army
CPT Christopher J. Kenny – Army
SGT Keith Lee Smette – Army
SSG Davin J Evans – Army
MAJ William F. Hecker III – Army
CPT Derek Argel – Air Force
Michael T. McPhearson
Veterans For Peace
Executive Director
314 725-6005
Peace: One step at a time.
“Sow Justice, Reap Peace — Strategies for Moving Beyond War”
Veterans For Peace
Report on “Crimes of the Oval Office” Public Discussion
Here is a report on impeachment from a new
member of our LA chapter of VFP.
VFP National Office
I’m a new member of Veterans for Peace, responding to your call for a
report from an attendee at the Sept. 13 “public conversation” on
presidential impeachment at the University of California, Los Angeles,
featuring former White House counsel John W. Dean and former
Congresswoman and Judiciary Committee member Elizabeth Holtzman. Both
were central figures in the impeachment proceedings against President
Richard Nixon in 1974.Dean and Holtzman each have recently written books addressing this
subject: Dean, Worse Than Watergate (Little, Brown, April 2004), and
Holtzman, The Impeachment of George W. Bush (Nation Books, September
2006). The views they expressed in Los Angeles on Sept. 13 are well
summarized in interviews conducted on Sept. 12 by Truthdig managing
editor Blair Golson, at
John Dean, Impeachment
and
Elizabeth Holtzman, Impeachment.Holtzman asserted that there is no question of George W. Bush’s having
committed a number of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” each of which
for calls for impeachment — not so much as matters of criminality,
but as abuses of power: intentionally deceiving the public [with
regard to Iraq]; deliberately ignoring the law [wiretapping]; failure
to comply with a treaty [the Geneva conventions]; abdication of
responsibilities of the office [Katrina]. Holtzman feels our
“constitutional democracy is at stake.” The only question for her is
whether the public has the will to undertake the proceedings. This
must be clearly demonstrated to Congress (regardless of which party is
in control) before it will act. Dean is more cautious, stating that
the grounds for impeachment are strong only where there has been
direct and harmful action, such as taking the country to war in a
deliberate deception, which he acknowledges was the case with Iraq.Holtzman noted that the press today shows little inclination to
aggressively explore the issues, as it did in 1973-74. Dean feels the
public today is still not nearly as aware of the presidential abuses
of power as it was then, when a special prosecutor (Archibald Cox) was
already at work, dramatically revealing a succession of shocking
misdeeds. (A September 2006 CNN poll showed 69% of Americans still
opposed to impeaching Bush.) And in the case of Nixon, in contrast to
the later proceedings against President Clinton, the primary
motivation was one of principle, not politics. Legislators, as well
as the top officials at the Justice Department, respected the law and
followed their individual consciences, rather than blindly submitting
to the leadership as they are prone to do today.Dean argued that a new, Democrat-controlled House of Representatives
would “have a duty to tell Americans what the Bush administration has
been up to the past six years,” but it “would be forced to start from
scratch, hiring investigators and legal staff, and then commencing an
investigation against a presidency that has made stonewalling into an
art form.” And for it to do so, facing the likelihood that a new but
still Republican-controlled Senate would not vote for conviction,
could be harmful to the nation. Another political debacle like the
Clinton investigation could severely weaken the stature of the
Constitution’s impeachment clauses.Dean does not entirely rule out impeachment, even in that likely
situation, and he expressed faith in the good judgment of potential
Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers to conduct a thorough and
responsible inquiry. But he left the impression that he would hope
instead for a resignation, or even be content to await the 2008
election — to spare the country the agony and distraction of what
might become a protracted and all-consuming political battle, and to
preserve the integrity of the Constitution. As he said in the Sept.
12 Truthdig interview, “Democracy, and our constitutional machinery,
is quite sturdy, but they cannot withstand endless incautious
political abuses.”Ed Fisher
Los Angeles
And you may want to read and pass on the following to anyone you might know that has a need to know about this, especially if they haven’t been contacted by the Pentagon. Subject lines of what this covers are highlighted, visit links for complete information.
DEADLINE FOR FILING CLAIMS FOR PROTECTIVE GEAR IS 3 OCT 2006
Posted By Major Robert Hanafin
From the Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) Chapter Listserv.
To any member of Veterans for America (VFA) with family members, friends, or who themselves qualify for protective gear reimbursement from the Pentagon, PLEASE TAKE NOTE and pass this information on to other Iraq War Veterans or their family members. Many of us meet folks who have purchased protective equipment for themselves or their loved ones in the past.
Protective Gear Reimbursement Program
What equipment qualifies for reimbursement?
Who’s a proper claimant?
How and to whom should a claim be filed?
How is the amount of reimbursement determined?
Is there a deadline for filing claims?
How is payment made?
Where can I get additional information or ask questions?
If you get a security warning ignore and click on the selection to go to the PDF file anyway
THESE WILL NOT BE NATIONAL SECURITY WARININGS BUT YOUR INTERNAL COMPUTER SECURITY WARNINGS OR ALERTS SO THEY CAN BE IGNORED.
Robert L. HanafinSpecialist Five, U.S. Army (69-76)
Major, USAF (77-94) RetiredArmy – Dad