VFP eNews: No to More War!, Palestine, Days of Action and Standing Rock
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Veterans For Peace Rejects President Trump's Military Build Up
The President plans to increase Pentagon spending by $54 billion, claiming that the U.S. military is broken and depleted. Mr. Trump recently spoke to service members aboard the new $13 billion USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier reiterating his call for more spending. Ironically the carrier is a real-life example of why more spending is not needed. U.S. military capabilities far outstrip all other nations. The carrier is an addition to a navy that was already unmatched by all others. With ten carriers, the U.S. has more than all other nations combined and the carriers are larger, providing more deck space per carrier than other nations. The U.S. Navy has thousands of aircraft, making it the second largest air force in the world behind the U.S. Air Force. The U.S. already spends almost three times what any other country spends on defense and more than the next nine countries combined.
U.S. global policy of endless war and filling the coffers of an already bloated military budget has merged into a global response of violence. We need a global response that meets human needs and aspirations. Militarization is not the foundation on which to build peace. U.S. efforts have proven that war is the breeding ground for more violence and hatred. We need increased spending in social programs here at home, including significant resources dedicated to our veterans who are suffering devastating effects as a result of their service. We need an increase in diplomacy to end the wars. We need to dedicate resources to helping bring relief to the refugee crisis resulting from endless war.
We, as veterans, know that peace is possible, but only if resources are directed towards caring for one another, not perpetuating militarization across the globe.
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VFP Marches For Standing Rock in D.C.
 Veterans For Peace members participated in the Native Nations March in Washington D.C. last Friday, March 10th and in solidarity actions across the country for Indigenous rights and ecological justice.VFP member, Four Arrows reflects on the March in a recent article in Truthout:
"Every five or ten minutes someone would shout out "Mni Wiconi!" The words echoed several times throughout the crowd reminding everyone present that water is indeed the essence and foundation of life on Earth and that it is our responsibility to protect it."
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Members of Chapter 171, Charlottesville Shut Down SunTrust Bank
US Army, Marine and Air Force veterans chained together in direct action blocking access to Suntrust Bank #DIVEST in support of Native Nations Rise #NoDAPL March in Washington DC on March 10, 2017.
#VeteransForPeace (Charlottesville Chapter) members Freeman Hobbs Allen and Dan Saint worked with Veterans Stand in shutting down Suntrust Bank in New York.
Read more about what VeteransStand has been doing with the NoDAPL protests.
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VFP Endorses International Days of Action Against War and Islamophobia
Over the last 16 years since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, rising Islamophobia has come hand-in-hand with escalating U.S.-led wars and occupations in the Middle East and North Africa. The Trump administration is now attempting to impose an inhumane travel and refugee ban on seven Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — all targets of U.S. military attack or sanctions by the current and previous administrations.
All these point to the fact that we are moving toward another, more disastrous, catastrophe in the Middle East. We call on all peace loving people throughout the world to unite and take action during the International Days of Action (March 11-19) against U.S. intervention in Syria and throughout the Middle East, against Islamophobia, and against the refugee Travel Ban.
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Shut Down Creech in April 2017!
Join actvists April 23 - April 29, 2017 at Creech Air Force Base, Indian Springs, Nevada for a 2nd national mobilization of nonviolent resistance to shut down killer drone operations in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan,Yemen, Somalia and everywhere.
In the last two years we had nearly 150 activists each year join us from 20 different states across the country, including over 50 veterans. In a very successful resistance action, we were able to interrupt business as usual for nearly an hour, with 34 activists ultimately arrested. Let's make SHUT DOWN CREECH 2017 an even more powerful stance against illegal drone killing. Please join us, and help spread the word. Together we are PEACE!
VFP Winter Newsletter Now Available Online!
Our Winter Newsletter is now online! Stories Include:
The VFP Newsletter is published 3 times each year for members and donors. It contains extensive chapter reports from around the country, poetry and book reviews as well as articles on current affairs.
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Get Your VFP Hoodie!
Show your VFP pride at winter actions, events, and meetings!
Front: VFP Logo
Back: Eisenhower Quote -"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity."
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In This Issue:
Veterans For Peace Rejects President Trump's Military Build UpPetition: No Troops in SyriaVFP Marches for Standing Rock in Washington D.C.
Save the Date! VFP Annual Convention!
Members of Chapter 171 Help Shut Down Sun Trust Bank
Matt Hoh Featured in Mondoweiss on Recent Trip to Palestine
50th Anniversary of "Beyond Vietnam" Speech
VFP Endorses National Day of Action Against War and Islamophobia
Shut Down Creech in April 2017!
VFP Chapter 91, San Diego Reflects on My Lai Massacre
Get Your VFP Hoodie!
Save the Dates: Upcoming Events
Petition: Stand with @RepBarbaraLee: No to U.S. Ground Troops in Syria
Sign this petition today from Just Foreign Policy:
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) has introduced a bipartisan bill to block additional U.S. forces from being sent into Syria. [1] H.R. 1473 prohibits the Department of Defense from funding any attempt by the administration to expand our presence in Syria by putting U.S. combat boots on the ground. Under the bill, the Pentagon would be prohibited from using funds to send troops to Syria for ground combat operations, award a contract to a private security firm for ground activity or otherwise establish or maintain a presence of U.S. troops or a private security contractor in Syria.
Save the Date! VFP Annual Convention
The VFP Annual Convention is titled "Education Not Militarization" and will be held in Chicago, Aug 9-13 at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago.
Tabling/ Registration begin on Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Workshops will be held on Thu/Fri (Aug 10-11th) Saturday - business meeting/banquet Sunday: Late concert
More details to follow!
National office contact is Shelly Rockett
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Matt Hoh Featured in Mondoweiss on Recent Trip to Palestine
Matt Hoh, a VFP member, recently returned from a trip to Palestine on a VFP delegation. Upon his return, he wrote a reflection for Mondoweiss: A US veteran reflects on protesting alongside Palestinian human rights activists in Hebron
"Explosions from concussion grenades echoed off the concrete streets and stone buildings, and the white wispy fingers of tear gas followed the crowds. The gas soon ballooned into thicker clouds of chalky white. My mate on my right arm, I now know is no simple activist. Issa Amro is his name and he said “let’s go”, and we did. Through the tear gas and toward the gun line of the Israeli army and police, we went."
A Special Note from Matt:
Israel is pursuing its charges against Amro in military court. A petition has been started to remind the United Nations that Amro is a designated and recognized international human rights defender and as such, the United Nations, and its member states, have certain obligations to him.
Please take a moment to add your name to the petition and then share it with your friends and allies. Amro is a tremendous leader and he, like many other, will end the occupation of Palestine through their non-violent resistance, so long as we follow them, support them and stand with them. Back to Top
50th Anniversary of Beyond Vietnam Speech
April 4, 2017 will be the 50th anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence. In confronting the deeply rooted racism, militarism and materialism of the United States, Dr. King described the United States as the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the reading of Martin Luther King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech, we are asking local VFP chapters to organize speech-reading events.
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VFP Chapter 91, San Diego Reflects on My Lai Massacre
This Thursday, March 16th, 2017, will mark the 49th anniversary of the infamous My Lai Massacre, where American soldiers murdered over 500 unarmed Vietnamese women, children and old men.
Jack Doxey, a member of VFP San Diego Chapter 91 and Korean War combat veteran (1952-1954) has written an article providing his reflection on this important anniversary.
"Our country's attention span is short; and revisiting old wounds, as we all know, can be painful. The result is that this event has been relegated to the "dust bin" of history. Nevertheless, I beseech our government and every American citizen to not forget, and learn from the events that unfolded 49 years ago. One obvious lesson is that war is not the answer."
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Save the Dates: Upcoming Events
March 5-21 - Veterans For Peace Annual Trip to Vietnam
March 11-19 - International Day of Action Against War and Islamophobia
March 18 - Executive Director Michael McPhearson: "Organizing, Resistance & Triumph: This Is Our Time" in Bethleham, Pennsylvania
March 18 - Bruce Gagnon "Organizing and Building a Movement That Can Take Root" in Brunswick, Maine
April 23-29 - 3rd Annual Shut Down Creech in Las Vegas, NV
April 29 - Peoples Climate Movement March in Washington D.C.
Aug 9-13 - VFP Annual Convention-"Education Not Militarization", Chicago, IL. There will be a concert the evening of the 13th, so plan to stay the evening of the 13th! More details to follow soon!
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Veterans For Peace, 1404 N. Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102
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