[Peace-discuss] Veterans Day IVAW/Citizen Soldier Alliance conversation - on militarism and its impacts on our lives, on your vision for a better future ...

[Jenifer Cartwright]

Great letter, Mort.  Gotta wonder if she threw in the bit about 2 sexual assault protections to convince folks like us to support the military. 


________________________________
 From: "Brussel, Morton K" <brussel at illinois.edu>
To: Stuart Levy <stuartnlevy at gmail.com> 
Cc: Peace Discuss <peace-discuss at anti-war.net> 
Sent: Monday, November 11, 2013 11:03 AM
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Veterans Day IVAW/Citizen Soldier Alliance conversation - on militarism and its impacts on our lives, on your vision for a better future ...
 


My response to a message I received about Veterans Day follows: 

Please remove me from your email list: I do not subscribe to the notion that our veterans, post WWII, are heros. Instead, they have been, in large part, pawns of our military-industrial complex, and have served to wreak havoc on innumerable countries of no threat to us. They have been responsible for untold innocent deaths, not just their own. Individually, no doubt many have been brave, if naive, often being taken advantage of due to their economic circumstances as civilians. Noxious propaganda, and enticements, have succeeded in getting them to enlist .  

This worship of the military has become a corrosive disease. 
Armistice Day had some moral meaning, not Veterans Day. 

--mkb


On Nov 11, 2013, at 9:54 AM, Annie Kuster wrote:

Morton --
>
>Veterans Day is a day to truly honor all of the brave heroes who serve or have served in our Armed Forces.
>
>But, this day always reminds me that we owe our veterans so much more than 
>
>just one day of thanks. They deserve to have a system that treats them as the heroes that they are. I fight every day so that we can do better for our veterans because they deserve that and so much more.
>
>I am proud to report progress on my top priorities for our nations' veterans with two of my bills now passed in the House - automation of benefits claims to tackle the backlog and whistleblower protection for victims of military sexual assault.
>
>I hope you’ll join me today in giving thanks to them and showing your support and that you too will use this as a reminder to treasure our servicemen and women not just today but every day.
>
>As they never stop for us, I will never stop fighting for them. Our veterans are the 
>
>true heart of America and what makes this country so great!
>
>Eternally grateful,
>
>Annie
>Paid for by Kuster For Congress Inc.
>
>   



On Nov 11, 2013, at 10:21 AM, Stuart Levy wrote:

Today is Veterans Day - originally Armistice Day, marking not war but the peace at the end of the First World War.
>
>   http://www.ivaw.org/blog/veteransday-social-media-dialogue-broadening-conversation-war-home-and-abroad
>
>Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and Civilian Soldier Alliance are launching a social media campaign to shift the dialoguearound Veteran's day, Monday, November 11th this year from one that implicitly supports war by avoiding any conversations of its costs towards a frank conversation on how U.S. militarism tears at the fabric that bonds our communities and has real impacts on peoples lives.  [...]
>Conversation around Veterans Day are usually centered on sacrifice. This silences a deeper reflection on why, or whether those sacrifices are necessary in the first place.
>[...]
>
>
>
>Do you believe that our police forces are looking and acting more and more like soldiers? Do you think that the war in Afghanistan should have ended years ago (or better yet never happened) and that we should pull troops out now? Are you against a militarized border with Mexico? Do you believe that the impacted communities of wars deserve the right to heal and United States accountability to ensure it happens? Anyone who is interested in discussing, learning more about, or influencing the national discussion on the effects of U.S. militarism overseas and at home is invited to join us!
>What can you do?
>Tweet and Facebook post your own experience or your community’s experiences with US militarism. How have you been impacted by the wars abroad or the war at home? Feel free to talk about your vision for a better future free of militarized “solutions”.
>
>
>[thanks to Meg Miner and Sarah Lazare for pointing out that this is happening...]
>
>
>
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