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On 4/7/17 10:38 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote:<br>
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href="https://www.veteransforpeace.org/our-work/position-statements/veterans-peace-condemns-us-actions-syria"
class="">https://www.veteransforpeace.org/our-work/position-statements/veterans-peace-condemns-us-actions-syria</a></div>
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Thank you, Carl. This is a good statement. Karen Aram, what do
you think about offering copies of this when we are flyering
downtown tomorrow (though most of us aren't veterans, we <i>are</i>
for peace)?<br>
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Here's the text of the Veterans for Peace statement -<br>
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<h1 class="page_title">Veterans For Peace Condemns U.S. Actions In
Syria</h1>
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<p dir="ltr">Veterans For Peace condemns the illegal U.S. attack
in Syria. We call on the Trump Administration to immediately end
all military actions in Syria and to begin intense U.S.
diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in the region. We call on
our members and all those who want an end to U.S. wars to
contact the President and Congress, to meet and talk to people
about peaceful means to end the war in Syria and hit the streets
to make our resistance to war visible.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Call the White House 202-456-1111 and your
Senators and Congressional Representatives 202-224-3121 and
tell them that military action only increases the dangers and
intensifies the humanitarian catastrophe in the region.</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Veterans For Peace mourns the deaths of those
recently killed in the chemical attack and the hundreds of
thousands of lives that have passed over the last six years of
this conflict.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The physical effects of a chemical attack and the way
it kills is horrendous. The president stated, “No child should
ever suffer such horror.” But the ongoing war itself is horrific
with many more children dying due to countless attacks by all
forces involved, disease, and other war related crises. The
madness of this multi-sided war must end. We demand the Trump
administration remove all military operations within Syria and
to stop flooding the region with arms sales.</p>
<p>The United States is not innocent in the death of over 400,000
people in Syria and across the region since 2011. For more than
two decades, the U.S. has been the most powerful destabilizing
factor in the region. For the last few years, the U.S. has and
continues to support and conduct military operations within the
borders of Syria with devastating effects, including the bombing
and killing of civilians. Further, the 1991 U.S. led invasion of
Iraq, the no-fly zones led by U.S. forces, the war in
Afghanistan and the second invasion of Iraq are twenty-six years
of continuous U.S. military operations. The cumulative effects
of U.S. war-making, decisions made as part of the occupation of
Iraq and the subsequent rise of ISIL are the most impactful
factors in creating the refugee crisis and the regional
destabilization the president referred to in his statement.</p>
<p>It should be clear after more than a generation of war that
more war and violence as witnessed in last night’s attacks will
not bring an end to the killing and suffering. There are no
positive effects coming out of U.S. involvement in Syria and it
only further contributes to the death and destruction of the
Syrian people. We call on the President to stop ratcheting up
tension at home and around the world. The “peace and harmony” he
calls for cannot prevail through cycles of violence.</p>
<p>VFP has learned that there are various protests across the
country today and tomorrow. We've assembled <a
href="https://www.veteransforpeace.org/who-we-are/member-highlights/2017/04/07/protests-against-us-missile-strikes-syria"
target="_blank">this list</a>, to the best of our ability.</p>
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