Download PDF of this full issue: v12n3.pdf (8.4 MB)

War or Peace, Life or Death? Vets Take The Lead!

By VVAW

As this issue of THE VETERAN goes to be printed, the Israeli Army is poised to swoop down on Beirut; Iranian troops are on into Iraq which is, in turn, hustling to come up with allies and weapons. Ethiopia, Chad, Somalia are all in various stages of fighting; at the least, el Salvador and Guatemala in Central America are rumbling with revolution and threatening to give the Reagan Administration a chance to plough in. Although the Falkland's war seems to be over, Britain and Argentina have yet to find a solution to the conflict. And, over all of these conflicts lies the constant rhetoric of the two superpowers rattling the sabres of nuclear war.

With all of this, there are some hopeful signs: the million people who marched in New York City for a nuclear freeze, and the similar movements in other countries around the world. There are peace demonstrations in Israel with the Wall Street Journal reporting that many civilians were holding back from criticizing their government until "reserve officers returned from Lebanon and spoke out again the war, the first time in Israel that soldiers had protested a war they had just come from waging." (VVAW sends its greeting to the Israeli Veterans Against the Lebanese War!)

These fledgling motions and movements toward a peaceful solution to some of the world's problems have miles to go before they start to have a powerful effect on the world's leaders. In the U.S. in particular, with Reagan seeming to be glad to take the lead in irresponsible bomb-waving, there is work to be done. Flying in the face of his own campaign promises, Reagan has now begun prosecution of the young men who refused to register for the draft. No doubt this is meant as warning for those who might want to object to the next U.S. military venture as well as a signal to all of Reagan's buddies that "patriotism" once again means waving the flag and beating the drums for war, for "defense spending," and for stomping the nasty commies into the ground.

Many vets have already learned that in wars it those who are sent off to fight them who are the real losers—and the people around whom the war rages whether Lebanese being slaughtered by Israeli bombs and artillery or the Vietnamese whose families are still suffering the effects of being sprayed with Agent Orange.

Whether it is in the anti-draft movement, in the anti-nuke movement or in the fight to show the American people the results of Vietnam (such as demanding testing, treatment and compensation for Agent Orange victims), get involved. Perhaps the time will arrive when the people will have their way, and those who glory in and profit from the spilling of our blood will hear a resounding "No!"