Veterans For Peace is an organization of military veterans and allies who use our experiences and lift our collective voice in an effort to build a culture of peace. We inform the public of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars, and highlight our obligation to heal the wounds of wars.
As the fighting and dying in Ukraine continues with no visible end, we at Veterans For Peace call on the American people, President Biden and the Congress to end this evil and terrible war against humanity.
We call for an end to the suffering of Ukrainian civilians under siege, and the damage to millions of refugees. We call for a congressional investigation into the destruction of the Nordstream pipelines and the militarization of Europe. We must stop the war-related food shortages in Africa and the war’s devastation of the environment and all living things, contributing to the existential threat of climate catastrophe.
We are angry about the waste of resources needed here at home for healthcare, social services, adequate housing and education that instead are used for death and destruction abroad. We are especially alarmed by the growing possibility of a nuclear war, which could bring a horrifying end to all living things on this planet.
In the face of these compounding disasters and threats, the world’s people are confronted by the apparent readiness of Russia, Ukraine, the United States and NATO to continue this war.
Veterans For Peace has consistently expressed our opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. War is never an answer, especially in our age of nuclear proliferation. And we remain opposed to U.S./NATO moves that set the stage for this war: surrounding rival Russia with hostile military forces and nuclear weapons systems and supporting the 2014 coup in Ukraine and attacks on Russian-speaking populations in eastern Ukraine. The Biden administration has escalated this war by sending more and more lethal weaponry to Ukraine, while blocking negotiations that might have ended hostilities earlier. The United States is pursuing its own war against Russia, if not to defeat it militarily, then to “weaken Russia,” as stated by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
As veterans who have experienced the carnage of war, we feel great empathy for the young soldiers on both sides of this bloody war, who are being killed and injured in the tens of thousands. We know all too well that the survivors of armed conflict will be traumatized and scarred for life.
We demand urgent, good faith diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine, not more U.S. weapons, advisors, and endless war. And certainly not a nuclear war. We want those billions of dollars going for climate correction, jobs, healthcare and housing, not for the profiteers who manufacture weapons for death and destruction.
As soldiers who participated in U.S. wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, we support war resisters, including Conscientious Objectors, draft resisters, deserters and all who refuse to participate in killing other human beings. We encourage U.S. military personnel to examine their consciences and refuse to participate in training, arming, advising or directly engaging in this and other wars of empire. The United States must end its many interventions and withdraw our troops from over 850 military bases around the world. We demand an end to the alarming U.S. preparations for war with China.
It is time to drop the weapons and embrace diplomacy and peace. For the people of Ukraine, the people of Russia, the people of Europe, the United States and China. For the children, for the civilians, for the soldiers, for all living things: We demand Diplomacy, Not War. We demand Peace in Ukraine.
Visit our webpage, Diplomacy Not War - Peace in Ukraine!