[Peace-discussion] Hawkins for US Senate: Peace Movement Must Support War Resisters

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 10:15:38 EDT

-------------------------------1155824138
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Language: en

=20
Hawkins Calls on Peace Movement to  Provide=20
Financial and Moral Support to Military  Resisters=20

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for US Senate from New  York, today=
=20
called upon the peace movement to provide financial support to  soldiers who=
=20
are punished for refusing to participate in the war.

Hawkins  was responding to recent comments made by Lt. Ehren Watada, the=20
first  commissioned U.S. Army officer to publicly refuse orders to Iraq, to=20=
the =20
national convention of Veterans for Peace. Hawkins himself was a Marine who=20=
was=20
 placed in inactive reserves after basic training for the duration of his =20
six-year enlistment due to his anti Vietnam War activism.  =20
=E2=80=9CThe resistance by men and women in the armed services to the  Vietn=
am War=20
was a central element in ending that war. And the support of the  antiwar=20
movement, through the GI coffee houses, the underground newspapers, and  the=
 antiwar=20
activists in the ranks of the armed services, made that resistance  possible=
,=E2=80=9D
 Hawkins said.

"To stop this war, for the soldiers to stop  fighting it, they must have the=
=20
support of the people. Convince them that no  matter how long they sit in=20
prison, no matter how long this country takes to  right itself, their famili=
es=20
will have a roof over their heads, food in their  stomachs, opportunities an=
d=20
education," stated Watada at the Veterans for Peace  convention.

"The refusal of individual soldiers to fight unjust wars has  often been=20
critical in stopping such wars. But such refusal often comes with a  steep p=
rice =E2=80=93=20
the threat of arrest, economic deprivation, and social ostracism.  Many=20
individuals join the armed forces due to a lack of alternatives to provide =20
economic support for themselves and their loved ones. The peace movement mus=
t be =20
willing to stand up for those who put their personal freedom and future on t=
he =20
line by refusing to fight a wars of aggression like Iraq and Afghanistan,"=20
noted  Hawkins.

Hawkins said that  soldiers who refused to fight in an illegal war and=20
occupation "were the true  American patriots, the real defenders of democrac=
y. I=20
applaud those individuals  who have the courage to refuse to blindly follow=20=
our=20
leaders when they lie to  the American public about why they invaded Iraq an=
d=20
have sanctioned widespread  human rights violations and torture in violation=
 of=20
international  law."=20
Hawkins  noted that =E2=80=9Cunder the Uniform Code of Military Justice serv=
ice men=20
and women have  a legal and moral obligation to resist illegal orders.  They=
=20
swear when they are inducted =E2=80=98to support and defend the  Constitutio=
n of the=20
United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.=E2=80=99 I  believe=
 the military=20
resisters to this war stand on a higher moral and legal  ground than the=20
members of Congress. Congress has violated the war powers clause  of Article=
 I of=20
the US Constitution, which gives Congress the sole power to  declare war.=20
Congress had no right to violate the Constitution when it gave the  Bush=20
administration unilateral war powers. Service men and women resisting  illeg=
al wars are=20
defending the Constitution.=E2=80=9D =20
=E2=80=9CAggressive wars to overthrow other governments and  occupy other co=
untries=20
has nothing to do with defending the Constitution. I  think that Smedley=20
Butler, the only two-time Congressional Medal of Honor  recipient, had it ri=
ght=20
after he retired and reflected in the 1930s on his  thirty-year career in th=
e=20
Marines. War is a racket, Butler said. He said US  military interventions ab=
road=20
were about advancing corporate interests, not  defending the American people=
.=20
That kind of imperialism continues today,=E2=80=9D  Hawkins said.

A February 2006 poll by Zogby International and LeMoyne  College found that=20
an overwhelming 72 percent majority of American troops  serving in Iraq thin=
k=20
the U.S. should exit the country within the next year. 29  percent said the=20
U.S. should leave Iraq "immediately," while another 22 percent  said they sh=
ould=20
leave in the next six months. 21 percent said troops should be  out between=20
six and 12 months.

"Our political leaders, both Democratic  and Republican, are unwilling to en=
d=20
this illegal occupation and bring our  troops home. We in the peace movement=
=20
must tell our troops that if they  individually decide to follow their=20
conscience and come home, we will  support them," said Hawkins.

-------------------------------1155824138
Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Language: en

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML xmlns:o =3D "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; charset=3DUTF-8">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1561" name=3DGENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=3Drole_body style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY:=20=
Arial"=20
bottomMargin=3D7 leftMargin=3D7 topMargin=3D7 rightMargin=3D7>
<DIV>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 16pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size=
: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT=20
color=3D#010101>Hawkins Calls on Peace Movement to=20
Provide<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 16pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size=
: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT=20
color=3D#010101>Financial and Moral Support to Military=20
Resisters<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size=
: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"> <SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size=
: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT=20
color=3D#010101>Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for US Senate from=20=
New=20
York, today called upon the peace movement to provide financial support to=20
soldiers who are punished for refusing to participate in the war. Haw=
kins=20
was responding to recent comments made by Lt. Ehren Watada, the first=20
commissioned U.S. Army officer to publicly refuse orders to Iraq, to the=20
national convention of Veterans for Peace. Hawkins himself was a Marine who=20=
was=20
placed in inactive reserves after basic training for the duration of his=20
six-year enlistment due to his anti Vietnam War activism.=20
<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size=
: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT=20
color=3D#010101>&nbsp;</o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size=
: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT=20
color=3D#010101>=E2=80=9CThe resistance by men and women in the armed servic=
es to the=20
Vietnam War was a central element in ending that war. And the support of the=
=20
antiwar movement, through the GI coffee houses, the underground newspapers,=20=
and=20
the antiwar activists in the ranks of the armed services, made that resistan=
ce=20
possible,=E2=80=9D Hawkins said. "To stop this war, for the soldiers=20=
to stop=20
fighting it, they must have the support of the people. Convince them that no=
=20
matter how long they sit in prison, no matter how long this country takes to=
=20
right itself, their families will have a roof over their heads, food in thei=
r=20
stomachs, opportunities and education," stated Watada at the Veterans for Pe=
ace=20
convention. "The refusal of individual soldiers to fight unjust wars=20=
has=20
often been critical in stopping such wars. But such refusal often comes with=
 a=20
steep price =E2=80=93 the threat of arrest, economic deprivation, and social=
 ostracism.=20
Many individuals join the armed forces due to a lack of alternatives to prov=
ide=20
economic support for themselves and their loved ones. The peace movement mus=
t be=20
willing to stand up for those who put their personal freedom and future on t=
he=20
line by refusing to fight a wars of aggression like Iraq and Afghanistan," n=
oted=20
Hawkins. &nbsp; Hawkins said=20=
that=20
soldiers who refused to fight in an illegal war and occupation "were the tru=
e=20
American patriots, the real defenders of democracy. I applaud those individu=
als=20
who have the courage to refuse to blindly follow our leaders when they lie t=
o=20
the American public about why they invaded Iraq and have sanctioned widespre=
ad=20
human rights violations and torture in violation of international=20
law."<o:p></o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #010101; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bi=
di-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman">&nbsp;</o:p>
<FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #010101; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bi=
di-font-family: Arial">Hawkins=20
noted that =E2=80=9Cunder the Uniform Code of Military Justice service men a=
nd women=20
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: A=
rial">have=20
a legal and moral obligation to resist illegal orders<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #010101; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bi=
di-font-family: Arial">.=20
They swear when they are inducted =E2=80=98to <SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">support and defend the=
=20
Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.=
=E2=80=99 I=20
believe the military resisters to this war stand on a higher moral and legal=
=20
ground than the members of Congress. Congress has violated the war powers cl=
ause=20
of Article I of the US Constitution, which gives Congress the sole power to=20
declare war. Congress had no right to violate the Constitution when it gave=20=
the=20
Bush administration unilateral war powers. Service men and women resisting=20
illegal wars are defending the Constitution.=E2=80=9D <o:p></o:p></FO=
NT>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman">&nbsp;</o:p>
<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman">=E2=80=9CAggressive wars to overthrow other governm=
ents and=20
occupy other countries has nothing to do with defending the Constitution. I=20
think that Smedley Butler, the only two-time Congressional Medal of Honor=20
recipient, had it right after he retired and reflected in the 1930s on his=20
thirty-year career in the Marines. War is a racket, Butler said. He said US=20
military interventions abroad were about advancing corporate interests, not=20
defending the American people. That kind of imperialism continues today,=E2=
=80=9D=20
Hawkins said.<SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #010101; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bi=
di-font-family: Arial"> <FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman">A February 2006 poll by Zogby International and LeM=
oyne=20
College found that an overwhelming 72 percent majority of American troops=20
serving in Iraq think the U.S. should exit the country within the next year.=
 29=20
percent said the U.S. should leave Iraq "immediately," while another 22 perc=
ent=20
said they should leave in the next six months. 21 percent said troops should=
 be=20
out between six and 12 months. "Our political leaders, both Democrati=
c=20
and Republican, are unwilling to end this illegal occupation and bring our=20
troops home. We in the peace movement must tell our troops that if they=20
individually decide to follow their conscience and&nbsp;come home, we will=20
support them," said Hawkins.</DIV></BODY></HTML>

-------------------------------1155824138--