Ltr #3 to Sen. wyden

Individuals for Justice

Dear Senator **wyden, Thursday, April 9, 2009
(Ltr #3)

Congratulations! We like your vote concerning the environment; it is good to start to save the state for other forms of life and for our future. We worry that you have the ability to see the value of preserving the environment but cannot speak for the innocent dead and dying in Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, and over 800 other places we have our military bases to support “The Empire.”

We know you have been made aware of these things but it would seem apparent that you don’t believe we care what our government is doing with all these bases around the world. Do you know how many foreign bases we have in the United States of America? None.

Do you have any idea how many children have lost their lives in Afghanistan? We single out Afghanistan because that is the place our new president wants to spend our capital, both in money and lives. Can you answer a few questions for us, we are just people who see the beauty in the world and not the ugliness that you and President **obama see, we are aware of the dangers in the world, but will not succumb to the temptation of war. This is what we know today:

Collateral Damage is a term that must be erased from our minds; it is like the devil trying to make eternal damnation seem toasty. Our war-prophets have agreed that there is an acceptable number of civilian casualties. This evil number is not known but we know it exists. Serial killers Ted Bundy and Dahmer murdered less people than a large operation in Iraq and the state executed them. Let’s just be honest and say we are going to murder 20-30 people to get one or two bad guys. This is all insane and you know it. You could work to stop this kind of operation but you will put up the shield of ignorance.

We have been told that you have received over $300,000 from AIPAC---True?

How can you be an honest man taking that kind of money from a Jewish Lobby and talk about Gaza and the slaughter of the Palestinians? We voted you into office to represent us, not Israel.

The numbers are staggering when you try to find out how much damage we have done in the last 64 years. We picked this time frame because that is when The Empire of the United States began, (In our opinion.)

General Eisenhower and later President Eisenhower knew we were heading in the wrong direction, but even he could not stop the fantasy of conquest that was to take hold of our military. The power vacuum that was left by the British Empire was filled by the good old yanks, singing songs while they attempted to conquer lands from Eastern Europe to Japan. The results have been devastating. The UN vote to create a new country called Israel has haunted us for all of this time. Many people with good intentions have tried in vain to bring peace to a place of hate.

The countries that were under the direct influence of the USSR gave a wonderful opportunity for the warmongers to frighten the citizens of this country into believing almost anything, as long as you added the word Communism. “The commies are coming,” was the cry in the fifties. They are taking over Eastern Europe and we must build up our armed forces to counter their takeover. No one explained to the American people that the USSR, now called Russia, was invaded by the west and devastated. Napoleon and Hitler on their own murdered tens of millions of Russians.

Vietnam was a direct result of our international ignorance convincing ourselves we could do the same thing that Rome did during its height of conquest. Conquering a nation can be accomplished by force but holding that nation in bondage is much more difficult.

The French told us in 1954 not to get involved but did we listen? We were the victors of WW2 and could do anything we so desired. The cost of lives and treasure was beyond anyone’s belief. The sight of a young girl burning from napalm was the beginning of the end. The media started to show the American people the truth and all hell broke out. There were riots in the streets to stop the madness, there was an outcry heard around the world when we found out the slaughter in South East Asia was in the millions. Our loss; we are still paying with 25% of the homeless being veterans and not many care---really care.

We know all these things, we want to let you know that you and the rest of Washington, DC can no longer hide from the fact that we are now reaping what we sowed. There is a direct line to be drawn between our warmongering ways and not having the money for our schools. We must stop; we are broke both financially and spiritually. President **obama will not be able to turn this ship of state around even if he was so inclined to try without your help. You must teach him, guide him with your love of life as demonstrated by your defense of the environment.

For the record, there have been over a million civilians murdered in Iraq during the invasion and now occupation and you wonder why we progressives are so angry. There is over 4-5 million people in Iraq who do not know where they will sleep tonight. The “New War In Afghanistan,” will cause more deaths without winning anything. The President has listened to the **bush generals and has decided the only way to save Afghanistan is to destroy it. This is not the thinking of a progressive, this is the thinking of frightened little men who want to hide from the truth. You can hide but not forever.

We demand that you give voice to the dead children whose only crime was to be born in a country that others want to control. We demand that you give voice to the veterans who have given so much and find their country says the right things but is ill prepared to deal with the tidal wave coming of damaged humans. We demand that you speak the truth and fight for Justice. Justice for all the criminals who set this country on this course of destruction, no matter who they be, presidents or speakers of the house, republican or democrat, makes no difference---murder is murder! We don’t know how to break your shield that all of you have so successfully put up, but know this; it is worse to let the killings go on and on than to do the killings yourself. To watch what is happening to our country and do nothing of import is treachery of the highest level. You have the power but will not use it.

Voltaire once said, “It is forbidden to kill, therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” We, Individuals for Justice, ask you which parade you will lead, the one going to death or the one going towards life.

If you choose life, we will support you; if you choose death, we will defeat you.

** denotes refusal to capitalize because of contempt, lack of respect or just being disappointed.

Signatures

Joe Walsh----- lonevet2008@comcast.net
VVAW----VAT.

Clyde Chamberlain, Activist

Martha Perez, General Political Activist

Roberto Lovato, Activist

Glen Owen, Activist

Michael Meo, co-chair, Pacific Green party of Oregon

Gordon Sturrock, Co-Founder, Veterans Against Torture,

Cristy Murray, Activist

Ineke Deruyter, Activist

Joe Rowe, Activist

Jack Dresser, Ph.D.
Political & Prevention Psychology
Veterans for Peace
Co-director, The Al-Nakba Awareness Project
www.al-nakba-history.com

Colleen Duncan, Activist